Questions about example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "Whittle"

A: to gradually make something smaller by removing parts of it

Example sentence:
We whittled down the list to four people.

Explanation:
In the beginning there were eighteen people on the list, now there are only four people. We removed two people from the list every day over the last week.

A: And "to whittle" literally means to carve something out of wood with a knife.

So to whittle away can mean to do complete a task slowly, or to use your time slowly, as if you're slowly carving a figure out of wood.

"He whittled away the afternoon by cleaning the house."

A: Literally, it means to use a knife to cut on a piece of wood and make it into a shape.
He whittled the wood into a dog.

Figuratively, it means to wear something down to a smaller piece (like you do in actual whittling).
He whittled down the files given to him.

A: "We need to whittle down the number of candidates before making a selection."
"Let's whittle down the number of opponents before they overwhelm us."
"They whittled down the options to only four."

"Whittle away" is also a phrase. It is less active and intentional than "Whittle down." For example, you can whittle away time, but you can't whittle down time. Its because, no matter how hard you try, you cant ake time go faster. So you cant intentionally whittke down time.

A: 1. She would whittle down the answers until she had the correct one.
2. The comments they made whittled away at his self-esteem.
3. They whittled a wooden dragon.

A: The bake time of the cookies is whittling down slowly.

A: Whittle is to cut away at something in small pieces. Sometimes forming a shape.
He just kept insulting her, whittling away her confidence.
He whittled that piece of wood into a small dog.

Dwindle is something slowly decreasing or running out.
The longer I wait the more my enthusiasm dwindles.

A: Whittle down comes from whittling down wood, so it feels more poetic to me. Narrow down is the usual expression.

A: As verbs the difference between reduce and whittle is that reduce is to bring down the size, quantity, quality, value or intensity of something; to diminish, to lower, to impair while whittle is (transitive|or|intransitive) to cut or shape wood with a knife.

As a noun whittle is a knife; especially, a pocket knife, sheath knife, or clasp knife or whittle can be (archaic) a coarse greyish double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of england, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl.

A:

This is somebody mimicking The type of “baby talk” voice that people use when they say things like – little baby.