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/wˈɪtəl/ /hwˈɪtəl/ Listen

verb

Whittle v. t. (past & past part. whittled; pres. part. whittling)

To pare or cut off the surface of with a small knife; to cut or shape, as a piece of wood held in the hand, with a clasp knife or pocketknife.

To edge; to sharpen; to render eager or excited; esp., to excite with liquor; to inebriate. (Obs.) ""In vino veritas." When men are well whittled, their tongues run at random."

Whittle v. i. To cut or shape a piece of wood with am small knife; to cut up a piece of wood with a knife. "Dexterity with a pocketknife is a part of a Nantucket education; but I am inclined to think the propensity is national. Americans must and will whittle."

noun

Whittle n.

A grayish, coarse double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of England, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl.

Same as Whittle shawl, below.

Whittle shawl, a kind of fine woolen shawl, originally and especially a white one.

Whittle n. A knife; esp., a pocket, sheath, or clasp knife. "A butcher's whittle." "Rude whittles." "He wore a Sheffield whittle in his hose."

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Etymology of 'Whittle'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Whittle" Quotes from Famous Books

... his head as though sorrowful over her pertinacity. Then he got up and got a piece of wood, a stick of pitch pine, which he began to whittle carefully into fine slivers. These he collected carefully into a bundle while the helpless girl ...

— Louisiana Lou • William West Winter

... the under dog every time. I guess coaching the first and having his pick of the players wouldn't make any sort of a hit with Boots. It would be too tame. Boots likes to take three discarded veterans, two crips and a handful of green youngsters and whittle them into a bunch that will make us sweat and toil to score on. And, what's more, he does it! Bet you anything, Don, this year's second will be every bit as good ...

— Left Guard Gilbert • Ralph Henry Barbour

... council. His name was Cap'n Bill and he had come to the Land of Oz with Trot, and had been made welcome on account of his cleverness, honesty and good nature. He wore a wooden leg to replace the one he had lost and was a great friend of all the children in Oz because he could whittle all sorts of toys out of wood ...

— Glinda of Oz • L. Frank Baum

... he, "green wood and wet wood won't do, but yonder is some birch bark and there's a pine root." He took his axe and cut a few sticks from the root, then used his knife to make a sliver-fuzz of each; one piece, so resinous that it would not whittle, he smashed with the back of the axe into a lot of matchwood. With a handful of finely shredded birch bark he was now quite ready. A crack of the flint a blowing of the spark caught on the tinder from the box, a little flame that at ...

— Rolf In The Woods • Ernest Thompson Seton

... Ewing Whittle, M. D., of the Royal Academy, Liverpool, and Miss Isabella M. S. Tod, the well-known reformer of Belfast. M. Leon Richer, the eminent writer of Paris, and Mlle. Hubertine Auclert, editor of La Citoyenne, sent cordial words of co-operation. There were also greetings from Mrs. ...

— The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV • Various

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