whittle down
phrasal verb
whittled down; whittling down; whittles down
: to gradually make (something) smaller by removing parts
We whittled the list down to four people.
Examples of whittle down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Most economists and investors brushed off the stump speech as hyperbole — a campaign promise that gets whittled down in the face of economic realities.
—
Daisuke Wakabayashi, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2025
Zoom in: Philly chefs and establishments are scattered across the list, which is whittled down from more than a dozen semifinalists.
—Isaac Avilucea, Axios, 2 Apr. 2025
His status will be key for a team that has been whittled down to a seven-man rotation with him in it.
—Joe Rexrode, The Athletic, 23 Mar. 2025
Many if not most of those pages had been previously disclosed, but with redactions that had been whittled down by various reviews and public declassifications over the years, including by the Biden administration.
—Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whittle down
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Daisuke Wakabayashi, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2025
Zoom in: Philly chefs and establishments are scattered across the list, which is whittled down from more than a dozen semifinalists.
—Isaac Avilucea, Axios, 2 Apr. 2025
His status will be key for a team that has been whittled down to a seven-man rotation with him in it.
—Joe Rexrode, The Athletic, 23 Mar. 2025
Many if not most of those pages had been previously disclosed, but with redactions that had been whittled down by various reviews and public declassifications over the years, including by the Biden administration.
—Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whittle down
Cite this Entry
“Whittle down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whittle%20down. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
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