whittled

verb

past tense of whittle
as in cut
to cause to diminish gradually by or as if by cutting off bits with a knife He was sitting on the porch, whittling a stick.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of whittled This year’s effort was initially much broader, but a last-minute deal whittled it down to limit certain local taxes in return for legislators’ dropping a measure that would have required anti-tax measures to meet a two-thirds threshold. — Dan Walters, Mercury News, 27 Aug. 2026 Those closures whittled the company's footprint down to about 70 locations in Arizona and Nevada, which will be permanently shuttered on Wednesday. — Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 5 Aug. 2026 The Los Angeles mayor is a nonpartisan position, meaning the June 2 primary was not separated by party and simply whittled the pool down to the top two candidates. — Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 8 July 2026 The market is trying to recover, but elite collectors seemingly want only trophy works; raging global conflicts, economic uncertainty, and political turmoil have whittled demand down to the safest names. — George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 24 June 2026 Next, your votes whittled the field of contenders to the Top 10 picks, then down to the Top 5 and Top 2. — Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 17 June 2026 While previous seasons of South Park have comprised between 10 to 15 episodes, and sometimes more, in recent years, Parker and Stone have whittled the number down to about five or six. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 19 May 2026 After much discussion, the council whittled that list down to three options before asking staffers to conduct more research before the council decides whether to put those choices to voters. — Victoria Le, Oc Register, 13 May 2026 But the 30 or so deaths earlier this year due to bird flu has whittled the number of swans down to about 44, a city official said. — Ryan Gillespie, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whittled
  1. cut
  2. clipped
  3. dropped
  4. pared
  5. lowered
Verb
  • Trading firms began using low-latency (shorter delay) technology and co-locating servers inside exchange data centers, cutting trade execution times to milliseconds and making speed itself a competitive advantage.
    — Brian Lund, Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Bass defended her proposal to cut the climate office amid the budget crunch, which the City Council rejected.
    — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of cut
Verb
  • Councilwoman Laura Madigan, D-Ward 1, said the issue surfaced again about two years ago after a semi-truck apparently clipped a new streetlight while making the turn onto Lincoln Street.
    — Jim Woods, Chicago Tribune, 27 Aug. 2026
  • His rhythm is clipped instead of musical, and Truman chooses to emphasize the words of his speech without emotion.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of clipped
Verb
  • The Hornets dropped a 28-17 contest at Eastern Michigan last Saturday, a Mid-American Conference opener in which the defense led the way with a defensive touchdown and in limiting the Eagles to 69 yards rushing.
    — Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Shoot days for digital productions rose 47% in the second quarter to 661 compared to the same period a year — even as the overall number of on-location shoot days dropped 13% during that period.
    — Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of dropped
Verb
  • The rooms Like the rest of the hotel, Maçakızı’s 74 rooms are pared back and unfussy.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Kalshi pared back injury betting for much of the summer, and for a while, injury markets tied to Nabers and tennis star Carlos Alcaraz were the only ones visible in Kalshi’s app.
    — Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of pared
Verb
  • After a couple of spoonfuls, the dinner conversation volume had lowered considerably.
    — Margy Rochlin, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Bessent then announced a series of Treasury bond buybacks, which lowered elevated yields and eased financial conditions across the wider economy.
    — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of lowered

Browse Nearby Words

whittle
whittled
whittled (down)
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Cite this Entry

“Whittled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whittled. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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