whittle down

1. PHRASAL VERB 逐渐减少;逐渐压缩…的人数
   To whittle down a group or thing means to gradually make it smaller.
   1. He had whittled eight interviewees down to two...
      他已经逐渐将参加面试的人数由8人减少到2人。
   2. By September, they will have whittled the list down to a winner...
      9月之前他们会从名单中确定出最后的赢家。
   3. The president has agreed to whittle down his proposal.
      总统已经同意减少他的提案。

1. He had whittled eight interviewees down to two
   他已经逐渐将参加面试的人数由8人减少到2人。
2. By September, they will have whittled the list down to a winner
   9月之前他们会从名单中确定出最后的赢家。
3. The president has agreed to whittle down his proposal.
   总统已经同意减少他的提案。
4. Whittle the stick down a bit more.
   把木棍再削细点儿。
5. We whittle it down to two.
   慢慢地，我们又减少到了两项。
6. 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。
7. 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。
8. 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。
9. Just whittle it down, you know?
   把它简化一点？
10. 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。
11. In the case of private equity, critics worry that a capital gains tax regime designed to stimulate the growth of smaller quoted companies is being used to whittle down the tax rate on the "carried interest" of private equity bosses to an unjustifiably low level.
    以私人股本行业为例，批评人士担心，以激励小规模上市企业增长为目的的资本利得税体制，正被用于将私人股本高管的“附带权益”（carriedinterest）税率降低至不合理的水平。
12. 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。
13. 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。
14. Simpson ( John, not Homer) and his colleagues whittle that list down to the few that seem to have gotten a solid foothold in popular usage.
    约翰-辛普森和他的同事们把众多的例句中筛选出在现实生活中最禁得住推敲的句子。
15. Write out the complete story, he advises, and then whittle it down to a series of concise descriptive bullet points.
    他建议，写出整个故事，然后再浓缩为一系列简明扼要的叙述。
16. 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。
17. They are trying to whittle down our salaries.
    他们正着手削减我们的薪水。
18. BERLIN ( Reuters Life!)– Challenged with a100 million euro ($ 133 million) deficit, one western German city has introduced a day tax on prostitutes to help whittle down its budget gap.
    柏林（路透社）-受100万欧元（1.33亿美元）赤字的冲击，德国西部城市之一引入妓女住宿税，以帮助削减其预算缺口。
19. 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。
20. 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。

verb

1. cut away in small pieces

   Synonym:    whittle awaywear away