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whittle

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whittle¹

  • /ˈwɪtəl/
  • [ˈwɪtʰl̩]
  • /ˈʍɪtəl/ Ireland, Scotland
  • [ˈw̥ɪtʰl̩] Ireland, Scotland
  • /ˈwɪɾl̩/
  • /ˈʍɪɾl̩/
  • [ˈw̥ɪɾl̩]

Rhymes with -ɪtəl

Where it comes from

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 whittles

  1. A knife; especially, a clasp-knife, pocket knife, or sheath knife. Novv if any man can be ſo unkind to his ovvn Body, for I meddle not vvith your Souls, as to ſtand ſtill like a good Chriſtian, and offer his VVeeſon to a Butcher's VVhittle, I ſay no more but that he may be ſav'd, and that's the beſt can come on him.

verb whittles · whittling · whittled

  1. intransitive, transitive To cut or shape wood with a knife. He was sitting on a bench before the fire, with his feet on the stove hearth, and in one hand was holding close up to his face that little negro idol of his; peering hard into its face, and with a jack-knife gently whittling away at its nose, meanwhile humming to himself in his heathenish way.
  2. transitive To reduce or gradually eliminate something (such as a debt).
  3. figuratively, transitive To make eager or excited; to excite with liquor; to inebriate. When men are well whitled, their toungs run at randome

whittle²

  • /ˈwɪtəl/
  • [ˈwɪtʰl̩]
  • /ˈʍɪtəl/ Ireland, Scotland
  • [ˈw̥ɪtʰl̩] Ireland, Scotland
  • /ˈwɪɾl̩/
  • /ˈʍɪɾl̩/
  • [ˈw̥ɪɾl̩]

Rhymes with -ɪtəl

Where it comes from

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 whittles

  1. archaic A covering for a bed; sheet.
  2. archaic A coarse greyish double blanket worn over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl. Her figure is tall, graceful, and slight; the severity of its outlines suiting well with the severity of her dress, with the brown stuff gown, and plain gray whittle

    Similar: cape, mantle

  3. archaic A kind of fine woollen shawl, originally and especially a white one.

    Similar: whittle shawl

  4. archaic, dialectal A baby's flannel; a baby's woollen napkin; a flannel petticoat.

Whittle³

proper noun Whittles

  1. countable, uncountable A surname. Jon Whittle, a former director of the digital research centre at the country's national science agency CSIRO, who is now a leading voice in AI and business, agrees with this.
  2. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Russell County, Kentucky, United States.

Translations

Every language

noun knife

中文刻刀 kèdao
Русскийбольшо́й нож bolʹšój nož

verb cut or shape wood with a knife

Españoltallar
中文削 xiāo, 刻 kè, 凿 záo
Françaistailler
Deutschschnitzen
Italianointagliare
Русскийвыстру́гивать vystrúgivatʹ, выреза́ть vyrezátʹ
Tiếng Việtvót, gọt

verb reduce or gradually eliminate something

Españoltallar
Deutschwegschnibbeln
Русскийуменьша́ть umenʹšátʹ, своди́ть на нет svodítʹ na net

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Cite this
MLA

"whittle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/whittle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

whittle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/whittle

Chicago

"whittle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/whittle.

BibTeX
@misc{whittle_2026,
  title = {whittle},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/whittle},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}