Dictionary

whittle en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• [ˈw̥ɪtʰl̩] (Ireland, Scotland) without the wine–whine merger
• (US) audio
• [ˈw̥ɪɾl̩] without the wine–whine merger
• /ˈʍɪtəl/ (Ireland, Scotland) without the wine–whine merger
• /ˈwɪɾl̩/ General American, wine–whine merger
• /ˈʍɪɾl̩/ without the wine–whine merger
• /ˈwɪtəl/ Received Pronunciation, wine–whine merger
• [ˈwɪtʰl̩] Received Pronunciation, wine–whine merger

Etymology

From Middle English whittel (“large knife”), an alteration of thwitel, itself from thwiten (“to whittle”), from Old English þwītan (“to strike down, whittle”), from Proto-Germanic *þwītaną, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *twey- (“to shake, hurl, toss”). Compare Old Norse þveita (“to hurl”), Ancient Greek σείω (seíō, “I shake”). Related to thwite and thwaite.

Meanings

1. A knife; especially, a clasp-knife, pocket knife, or sheath knife.
   • Rude whittles. 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
   • The Sheffield whittle was the common knife of the country, which every one carried for general purposes, who was not entitled by rank to wear a sword. 1873, Alfred Gatty, Sheffield: Past and Present:
   • Novv if any man can be ſo unkind to his ovvn Body, for I meddle not vvith your Souls, as to ſtand ſtill like a good Chriſtian, and offer his VVeeſon to a Butcher's VVhittle, I ſay no more but that he may be ſav'd, and that's the beſt can come on him. 1682 December 15 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John] Dryden, [Nathaniel] Lee, The Duke of Guise. A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] H[odgkin] for R[ichard] Bentley […], and J[acob] Tonson […], published 1683, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 50:

Forms

Translations (10)

cmn 刻刀 (knife) · bg касапски нож (knife) · ru большо́й нож (knife) · hu mészároskés (knife) · nl (groot) mes (knife) · hu bicska (knife) · hu nagy kés (knife) · grc ξυήλη (knife) · fi leuku (knife) · pl scyzoryk (knife)

whittle en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• [ˈw̥ɪtʰl̩] (Ireland, Scotland) without the wine–whine merger
• (US) audio
• [ˈw̥ɪɾl̩] without the wine–whine merger
• /ˈʍɪtəl/ (Ireland, Scotland) without the wine–whine merger
• /ˈwɪɾl̩/ General American, wine–whine merger
• /ˈʍɪɾl̩/ without the wine–whine merger
• /ˈwɪtəl/ Received Pronunciation, wine–whine merger
• [ˈwɪtʰl̩] Received Pronunciation, wine–whine merger

Etymology

From Middle English whittel (“large knife”), an alteration of thwitel, itself from thwiten (“to whittle”), from Old English þwītan (“to strike down, whittle”), from Proto-Germanic *þwītaną, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *twey- (“to shake, hurl, toss”). Compare Old Norse þveita (“to hurl”), Ancient Greek σείω (seíō, “I shake”). Related to thwite and thwaite.

Meanings

1. (intransitive, transitive) To cut or shape wood with a knife.
   • He was sitting on a bench before the fire, with his feet on the stove hearth, and in one hand was holding close up to his face that little negro idol of his; peering hard into its face, and with a jack-knife gently whittling away at its nose, meanwhile humming to himself in his heathenish way. 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter X, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
2. (transitive) To reduce or gradually eliminate something (such as a debt).
3. (figuratively, transitive) To make eager or excited; to excite with liquor; to inebriate.
   • When men are well whitled, their toungs run at randome 1554, John Withals, A Dictionarie in English and Latine:

Forms

Deriveds

whittle away · whittle down · whittle the whalebone · whittling

Translations (48)

it intagliare (cut or shape wood with a knife) · pl wystrugać (cut or shape wood with a knife) · hu lefarag (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · fi leikata (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · bg дялам (cut or shape wood with a knife) · cs omezit (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · cmn 削 (cut or shape wood with a knife) · es tallar (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · cs zredukovat (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · nl afknagen (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · hu faragcsál (cut or shape wood with a knife) · cs snížit (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · uk струга́ти (cut or shape wood with a knife) · hu farag (cut or shape wood with a knife) · cmn 凿 (cut or shape wood with a knife) · de schnitzen (cut or shape wood with a knife) · ru выстру́гивать (cut or shape wood with a knife) · sv tälja (cut or shape wood with a knife) · no spikke (cut or shape wood with a knife) · vi gọt (cut or shape wood with a knife) · nl snijden (cut or shape wood with a knife) · cs ořezat (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · ru выреза́ть (cut or shape wood with a knife) · cs seříznout (cut or shape wood with a knife) · cs ořezat (cut or shape wood with a knife) · nl aanspitsen (cut or shape wood with a knife) · fi vuolla (cut or shape wood with a knife) · nl kerven (cut or shape wood with a knife) · fi veistää (cut or shape wood with a knife) · hu kifarag (cut or shape wood with a knife) · uk ви́стругати (cut or shape wood with a knife) · hu csökkent (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · cs ořezávat (cut or shape wood with a knife) · bg издялвам (cut or shape wood with a knife) · ru своди́ть на нет (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · es tallar (cut or shape wood with a knife) · vi vót (cut or shape wood with a knife) · nl verminderen (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · de wegschnibbeln (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · fi karsia (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · hu megnyirbál (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · fr tailler (cut or shape wood with a knife) · cmn 刻 (cut or shape wood with a knife) · hu farigcsál (cut or shape wood with a knife) · cs vyřezat (cut or shape wood with a knife) · sv karva (cut or shape wood with a knife) · ru уменьша́ть (reduce or gradually eliminate something) · pl wyrzeźbić (cut or shape wood with a knife)

whittle en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• [ˈw̥ɪtʰl̩] (Ireland, Scotland) without the wine–whine merger
• (US) audio
• [ˈw̥ɪɾl̩] without the wine–whine merger
• /ˈʍɪtəl/ (Ireland, Scotland) without the wine–whine merger
• /ˈwɪɾl̩/ General American, wine–whine merger
• /ˈʍɪɾl̩/ without the wine–whine merger
• /ˈwɪtəl/ Received Pronunciation, wine–whine merger
• [ˈwɪtʰl̩] Received Pronunciation, wine–whine merger

Etymology

From Middle English whytel, from Old English hwītel (“cloak, blanket”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwītil, from Proto-Germanic *hwītilaz, equivalent to white + -le; akin to Icelandic hvítill (“white bedcover, sheet, linen”).

Meanings

1. (archaic) A covering for a bed; sheet.
2. (archaic) A coarse greyish double blanket worn over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl.
   • Her figure is tall, graceful, and slight; the severity of its outlines suiting well with the severity of her dress, with the brown stuff gown, and plain gray whittle 1857, Charles Kingsley, “(please specify the page)”, in Two Years Ago, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC:
3. (archaic) A kind of fine woollen shawl, originally and especially a white one.
4. (archaic, dialectal) A baby's flannel; a baby's woollen napkin; a flannel petticoat.

Forms

Synonyms

whittle shawl · cape · mantle