Whittle \Whit"tle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whittled; p. pr. & vb.
n. Whittling.]
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1. 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.
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2. To edge; to sharpen; to render eager or excited; esp., to
excite with liquor; to inebriate. [Obs.]
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"In vino veritas." When men are well whittled, their tongues run at random. --Withals. [1913 Webster]
Whittle \Whit"tle\, v. i. To cut or shape a piece of wood with am small knife; to cut up a piece of wood with a knife. [1913 Webster]
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. --Willis. [1913 Webster]
Whittle \Whit"tle\, n. [AS. hw[imac]tel, from hwit white; akin
to Icel. hv[imac]till a white bed cover. See White.]
(a) A grayish, coarse double blanket worn by countrywomen, in
the west of England, over the shoulders, like a cloak or
shawl. --C. Kingsley.
(b) Same as Whittle shawl, below.
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Whittle shawl, a kind of fine woolen shawl, originally and especially a white one. [1913 Webster]
Whittle \Whit"tle\, n. [OE. thwitel, fr. AS. pw[imac]tan to cut.
Cf. Thwittle, Thwaite a piece of ground.]
A knife; esp., a pocket, sheath, or clasp knife. "A butcher's
whittle." --Dryden. "Rude whittles." -- Macaulay.
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He wore a Sheffield whittle in his hose. --Betterton. [1913 Webster]
Whittle
noun1: English aeronautical engineer who invented the jet aircraft engine (1907-1996) [syn: Whittle, Frank Whittle, Sir Frank Whittle]
verb
1: cut small bits or pare shavings from; "whittle a piece of wood" [syn: whittle, pare]
51 Moby Thesaurus words for "whittle": amputate, ax, bisect, blade, butcher, carve, chop, cleave, cold steel, cut, cut away, cut in two, cut off, cutlery, cutter, dagger, dichotomize, dissever, edge tools, excise, fissure, gash, hack, halve, hew, incise, jigsaw, knife, lance, naked steel, pare, pigsticker, point, prune, puncturer, rend, rive, saw, scissor, sever, sharpener, slash, slice, slit, snip, split, steel, sunder, sword, tear, toad sticker
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