Whittle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈwʰɪtÉ™l/
• Rhymes: -ɪtÉ™l

From Middle English whittel ("large knife"), an alteration of thwitel, itself from thwiten ("to whittle"), from Old English thwitan. Compare Old Norse þveita ("to hurl")

Full definition of whittle

Noun

1. A knife; especially, a pocket knife, sheath knife, or clasp knife.
• DrydenA butcher's whittle.
• MacaulayRude whittles.
• BettertonHe wore a Sheffield whittle in his hose.

Verb

1. (transitive or intransitive) To cut or shape wood with a knife.
2. (transitive) To reduce or gradually eliminate something (such as a debt).
3. (transitive, figurative) To make eager or excited; to excite with liquor; to inebriate.
• WithalsWhen men are well whittled, their tongues run at random.

Derived terms

• whittle down
• whittling

From an Old English word for "white"; akin to an Icelandic word for a white bedcover.

Noun

1. (archaic) A coarse greyish double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of England, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl.
2. (archaic) A whittle shawl; a kind of fine woollen shawl, originally and especially a white one.