whittle

verb

1. 把（木头等）削成…
   to form a piece of wood, etc. into a particular shape by cutting small pieces from it
   1. He whittled a simple toy from the piece of wood.
      他把那块木头削成了一个简易的玩具。
   2. He whittled the piece of wood into a simple toy.
      他把那块木头削成了一个简易的玩具。

1. VERB 削(木头等)
   If you whittle something from a piece of wood, you carve it by cutting pieces off the wood with a knife.
   1. He whittled a new handle for his ax...
      他给斧头削了一个新把手。
   2. Chitty sat in his rocking-chair whittling wood.
      奇蒂坐在摇椅上削着木头。

1. He whittled a new handle for his ax
   他给斧头削了一个新把手。
2. Chitty sat in his rocking-chair whittling wood.
   奇蒂坐在摇椅上削着木头。
3. I believe that the Government's general aim is to whittle away the Welfare State
   我认为政府总的目的是要削弱福利国家体制。
4. Their approach is to whittle away at the evidence to show reasonable doubt.
   他们的做法是要削弱证据的说服力以提出合理的质疑。
5. The president has agreed to whittle down his proposal.
   总统已经同意减少他的提案。
6. Whittle the stick down a bit more.
   把木棍再削细点儿。
7. We whittle it down to two.
   慢慢地，我们又减少到了两项。
8. A girl named Maxi went off to whittle a branch with a hunting knife.
   一个名叫马克西（Maxi）的女孩走到一边，拿着一把猎刀削起树枝来。
9. Ultimately, Mr. Penn said, Uber wants to whittle Beijing's time down to five minutes.
   Penn称，Uber希望最终将北京客户的等待时间降至五分钟。
10. More than 70,000 people voted in the first round to whittle it down to a shortlist of 10 and members of the public now have six weeks to choose which British bird they would like to see represent the country, he said.
    他说，超过7万民众参与了第一轮投票，海选过后得出十个最终候选鸟，在接下来的六周里，民众就要选出哪种鸟最能代表英国。
11. Your article is too long, try to whittle it away to half its length.
    你的文章太长了，要设法删减到原有长度的一半。
12. I think we'd better whittle down her schedule.
    我想我们最好削减一些她的日程计划。
13. Yet while the episode allowed Mr Medvedev to flex his muscles, it also demonstrated graphically the limits of his powers namely that he is clearly not allowed to fire ministers, only to whittle away at their perks.
    然而，尽管这一回合让梅德韦杰夫展现了自己的权威，但也生动显示出他的实权是有限的，即他显然无权罢免部长级官员，而只能剥夺他们的一部分特权。
14. Just whittle it down, you know?
    把它简化一点？
15. Don't whittle the stick down too much or it won't be long enough.
    别把那棍削得太多，不然就不够长了。
16. I am told by several banks that one of the ways they whittle down thousands of applicants to the 200-300 that they interview each year is by looking for relevant work experience, or internships.
    几家银行告诉我，它们每年把数千名应聘者大幅削减到面试的二三百人，所用的方法之一，就是看他们有没有相关的工作经验或实习经验。
17. This can not only whittle the devils head of the latter, try various powerful weapons, kill the Japanese aggressors!
    这次可不仅仅是大刀向鬼子们的头上砍去了，试试各种强力的武器，干掉日本鬼子！
18. While the military gap between China and the United States may remain for some time, he argued, china's faster economic growth and increasing political strength may whittle down america's overall advantage.
    他辩称，尽管中国和美国相比，军事上还有一段时间的差距，但中国更快的经济增长和日趋强大的政治实力应可削减美国的总体优势。
19. Sarah Whittle: You did just see three monkeys go by on a motorcycle; right?
    莎拉：你刚才正好看见一辆摩托车上有三头驴，是吧？
20. The recent election results have whittle away the government's power.
    最近的选举结果削弱了政府的权力。
21. This uses a succession of cues to whittle away the alternatives until only one remains.
    这一方法使用一连串线索来逐渐减少排除选项，直到最后只剩下一个选项。
22. Their resistance and boycott threat might instead be more of an effort to whittle down the markup that Rio Tinto is seeking in current contract negotiations.
    他们的反对和抵制威胁或许更是一种为打击力拓的涨价企图而采取的策略。
23. They are trying to whittle down our salaries.
    他们正着手削减我们的薪水。
24. Sarah Whittle: Don't ever call me crazy, Alan!
    莎拉：永远不要叫我疯子，阿兰！
25. He began to whittle away all powers of the government that he did not control.
    他开始削弱他所未能控制的一切政府权力。
26. Eventually, users can whittle that fee down to nothing by tying their computers to The Pirate Bay's "cloud" network.
    不过，如果用户愿意把自己的电脑加入海盗湾的“云”计算网络，那么他们的月费就可以被减免。
27. Make this plug smaller for me, but don't whittle away too much.
    帮我把这个塞子弄小一点，但木头不要削掉太多。
28. Other ways to whittle down banks are thinkable.
    另外一些削减银行的办法是值得考虑的。
29. Sure, I bet he could, uh, whittle a private little dance floor for the two ofyou.
    当然，我打赌他能为你们俩做一个私人的舞台。
30. I showed her how to whittle pegs from white-wood.
    我给她示范怎样将白木削成木栓。

whittle sth↔away

1. 削减，减少，降低（…的价值或数量）
   to make sth gradually decrease in value or amount
   1. He whittled a simple toy from the piece of wood.
      他把那块木头削成了一个简易的玩具。
   2. He whittled the piece of wood into a simple toy.
      他把那块木头削成了一个简易的玩具。

whittle sth↔down

1. 减少，缩减（…的大小或数目）
   to reduce the size or number of sth

verb

1. cut small bits or pare shavings from
   1. whittle a piece of wood

   Synonym:    pare