WHITTLE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Whittle

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/wˈɪtəl/ /hwˈɪtəl/ Listen

verb

Whittle v. t. (past & past part. whittled; pres. part. whittling)

To pare or cut off the surface of with a small knife; to cut or shape, as a piece of wood held in the hand, with a clasp knife or pocketknife.

To edge; to sharpen; to render eager or excited; esp., to excite with liquor; to inebriate. (Obs.) ""In vino veritas." When men are well whittled, their tongues run at random."

Whittle v. i. To cut or shape a piece of wood with am small knife; to cut up a piece of wood with a knife. "Dexterity with a pocketknife is a part of a Nantucket education; but I am inclined to think the propensity is national. Americans must and will whittle."

noun

Whittle n.

A grayish, coarse double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of England, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl.

Same as Whittle shawl, below.

Whittle shawl, a kind of fine woolen shawl, originally and especially a white one.

Whittle n. A knife; esp., a pocket, sheath, or clasp knife. "A butcher's whittle." "Rude whittles." "He wore a Sheffield whittle in his hose."

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Etymology of 'Whittle'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Whittle" Quotes from Famous Books

... he was working over his patient, who lay on a table surrounded by a motley crowd of onlookers, Levake walked in. He nodded to the surgeon and drawing a pocket knife, while Arnold was cleansing the wound, sat down beside him to whittle a stick. ...

— The Mountain Divide • Frank H. Spearman

... it is reduced to powder, but what will you? reason, joined to authority,—I am but a simple man, and I obey. Since then, I sit and whittle splints for my admirable wife. A woman, senorita, to rule a nation! The Gringos pass by, and see me working at my trade. I greet them civilly, I supply requisitions when backed by authority; again, what will you? I suffer ...

— Rita • Laura E. Richards

... boy," she said slowly. "He is not good for mooch, but he like that whittle kind of work, ...

— Joyce's Investments - A Story for Girls • Fannie E. Newberry

... I hate ye and ye know it. 'F I'd a been 'lowed ter stay home an' whittle like I wanted ter, I wouldn't a lost my cap. I scratched my fingers gittin' it, an' that makes ...

— Randy and Her Friends • Amy Brooks

... commodity were stored upon the deck. The captain coming up to have a little conversation, and to introduce a friend, seated himself astride of one of these barrels, like a Bacchus of private life; and pulling a great clasp-knife out of his pocket, began to 'whittle' it as he talked, by paring thin slices off the edges. And he whittled with such industry and hearty good will, that but for his being called away very soon, it must have disappeared bodily, and left nothing in its place ...

— American Notes for General Circulation • Charles Dickens

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