whittle

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, wine–whine merger) IPA(key): /ˈwɪtəl/, [ˈwɪtʰl̩] (Scotland, Ireland, without the wine–whine merger) IPA(key): /ˈʍɪtəl/, [ˈw̥ɪtʰl̩] (General American, wine–whine merger) IPA(key): /ˈwɪɾl̩/ (without the wine–whine merger) IPA(key): /ˈʍɪɾl̩/, [ˈw̥ɪɾl̩] Rhymes: -ɪtəl Hyphenation: whit‧tle === Etymology 1 === From Middle English whittel (“large knife”), an alteration of thwitel, itself from thwiten (“to whittle”), from Old English þwītan (“to strike down, whittle”), from Proto-Germanic *þwītaną, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *twey- (“to shake, hurl, toss”). Compare Old Norse þveita (“to hurl”), Ancient Greek σείω (seíō, “I shake”). Related to thwite and thwaite. ==== Noun ==== whittle (plural whittles) A knife; especially, a clasp-knife, pocket knife, or sheath knife. ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== whittle (third-person singular simple present whittles, present participle whittling, simple past and past participle whittled) (transitive or intransitive) To cut or shape wood with a knife. (transitive) To reduce or gradually eliminate something (such as a debt). (transitive, figurative) To make eager or excited; to excite with liquor; to inebriate. ===== Derived terms ===== whittle away whittle down whittle the whalebone whittling ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From Middle English whytel, from Old English hwītel (“cloak, blanket”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwītil, from Proto-Germanic *hwītilaz, equivalent to white +‎ -le; akin to Icelandic hvítill (“white bedcover, sheet, linen”). ==== Noun ==== whittle (plural whittles) (archaic) A covering for a bed; sheet. A coarse greyish double blanket worn over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl. Synonyms: cape, mantle A kind of fine woollen shawl, originally and especially a white one. Synonym: whittle shawl (dialectal) A baby's flannel; a baby's woollen napkin; a flannel petticoat. === References === “whittle” in Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary: Based on Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 7th edition, Springfield, Mass.: G[eorge] & C[harles] Merriam, 1963 (1967 printing), →OCLC. Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “whittle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Whittle”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.