How to Use whittle down in a Sentence

whittle down

phrasal verb

• The six candidates were whittled down from 80 who sought to take part in the vote.
  — Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 28 June 2024
• Prior to the start of the first round, the field will be whittled down to 64 teams as eight teams compete in the First Four play-in round.
  — Jordan Freiman, CBS News, 17 Mar. 2024
• Over the next few hours, they were whittled down until 200 emerged as the next batch of senators.
  — Koh Ewe, TIME, 28 June 2024
• On this occasion, there are five of them, although soon enough they are whittled down to one.
  — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2023
• The field will be whittled down when all ballots are received later this week.
  — Olivia Diaz, Washington Post, 21 June 2023
• But with so many brands, materials, and options to choose from, whittling down your search to find the very best outdoor decor can be a doozy.
  — Kelsey Mulvey, Sunset Magazine, 17 June 2024
• After all, our cast of characters has been more or less whittled down to two people.
  — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 20 June 2024
• Now that list has probably been whittled down to two, the aging Kershaw and the rookie Miller, and there are questions about how long the Dodgers can survive.
  — Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2023
• The state attorney general’s office took over the case, which was whittled down from 13 accusers to two, and now just the woman known as Jane Doe.
  — Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2023
• The crowd erupted when the senior hit two straight shots to give his Mavericks momentum while whittling down the Falcons’ lead.
  — Timothy Dashiell, Baltimore Sun, 19 Jan. 2024
• Still, the annual task of whittling down the year’s releases to a Top 10 was more challenging than ever.
  — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Dec. 2023
• By the end of Tuesday’s proceedings, the pool of qualified jurors was whittled down to 50 people.
  — Tory Newmyer, Washington Post, 3 Oct. 2023
• The vast majority of those named on the witness list – which is used to help attorneys and the court whittle down the jury pool – will not be called to testify.
  — Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 15 May 2024
• The list has been whittled down from over 100 different artistic and glassmaking teams.
  — Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Sep. 2024
• With the season kicking off with 21 amateur cooks, the numbers have slowly been whittled down.
  — Alexandra Koster, refinery29.com, 4 July 2024
• Before Sunday's finale, they will be whittled down to the top three finalists.
  — Keryn Donnelly, refinery29.com, 17 Apr. 2024
• When the trial finally did begin, the number of co-defendants had been whittled down to six.
  — Ashley Oliver, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 13 June 2024
• This way, the trucker can keep more of his hauling profits, which would otherwise be whittled down by the official dump fees.
  — Julia Shipley, WIRED, 13 Jan. 2024
• At first, about 10 people showed interest before the list was whittled down to the seven unicyclists who make up the current team.
  — Josh Reed, Anchorage Daily News, 16 July 2023
• The flashlight on my cap was feeble, its shine whittled down to intermittent smears of butterscotch against the dark fabric of night.
  — Okwiri Oduor, Harper's Magazine, 15 June 2022
• Some guests had to make subsequent attempts to visit but found that wait times this week had whittled down to 20 to 40 minutes since the first Saturday of business.
  — Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2024
• Part of the goal of carrying out the ground tests while the vehicle is still in space, Nappi said, is to try to whittle down possible reasons the thrusters malfunctioned.
  — Jackie Wattles, CNN, 28 June 2024
• Biden took office vowing to whittle down the debt burden on student and graduates.
  — Abha Bhattarai, Washington Post, 23 Dec. 2023
• The applicants were whittled down for on-site interviews with the committee.
  — Jake Allen, The Indianapolis Star, 15 Feb. 2024
• White said the preseason game will also be key for those evaluations as the staff attempts to whittle down to 11 players.
  — Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 8 May 2024
• Then, Journal Sentinel staff whittle down the pool of candidates to a shortlist of finalists and turn to the public for help choosing that week's winner.
  — Journal Sentinel, 19 Feb. 2024
• The Voice has whittled down the competition to its last five contestants of season 24 during its Tuesday night (Dec. 12) episode.
  — Starr Bowenbank, Billboard, 13 Dec. 2023
• Over the course of about a year, Chen tested different ways of whittling down the metal by effectively sandblasting it with atoms.
  — Quanta Magazine, 28 Nov. 2023
• Facing up to 18 months behind bars himself and hefty fines if found guilty, Baldwin was in the courtroom today as the lawyers whittled down the pool of nearly 80 potential jurors.
  — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 9 July 2024
• And, for a special treat, there is a standout scene with Al Pacino, playing a moneyed collector who tries and fails to whittle down Modi’s ego.
  — Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 24 Sep. 2024

Last Updated: 3 Nov 2024