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

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The theory behind this approach is that by buying time and space for further discussion, the gaps will be whittled down over time and eventually present a zone of agreement. —

Andrew P. Miller, Foreign Affairs, 29 Sep. 2024 Kerr’s 12-man rotation could be whittled down to nine purely for health reasons. —

Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2024 The coaches are whittling down their teams from 14 contestants during the Battle Rounds to nine who will move on to The 3-Way Knockouts. —

Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 22 Oct. 2024 Within a week and a half, a record label in Bend, Oregon, had released a 16-track compilation dedicated to the style; another compilation, curated by Daniel and Machinedrum’s Travis Stewart, is due out this fall, whittled down from more than 90 submissions. —

Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 11 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for whittle down