Dictionary

whittling en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (plural-normally) A chip or shaving whittled from some larger substance.
2. The art of carving shapes out of raw wood using a knife.
3. A process of repeatedly shaving slivers from a piece of wood (non-artistic).
4. (broadly, figuratively) The reducing of something by degrees, especially at the expense of some effort.
   • Result: nothing would prevent the rapid destruction of the Deco District. Already the developers are calling for a whittling down of the original square mile to a few blocks. The few blocks will no doubt be whittled down to one building, and in the end all that will be left will be a Deco mailbox well pissed on by the local dogs. In another era it was called salami tactics. 1988, Alexander Cockburn, Corruptions of Empire: Life Studies and the Reagan Era (Haymarket Series), Verso, →ISBN:
   • a whittling down

Forms

Coordinates

woodcarving · wood carving

whittling en · VERB

Meanings

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present) present participle and gerund of whittle
   form of whittle