whittle at (something)
whittle at (something)
1. To carve small sections away from something, especially a piece of wood, to in order to shape it or make it smaller. We used to sit on our back porch and whittle at blocks of soap until they were in the shapes of tiny animals. I had to keep whittling at the edge of the door until it fit into the frame properly.
2. To reduce or eliminate the size, scope, or strength of something by incrementally removing small parts. If they keep whittling at our budget like this, our department will have to close down before too long. I know writing your thesis seems daunting right now, but you just have to whittle at it bit by bit over time.
See also: whittle
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
whittle at something
to cut or carve at something. He just sat there, whittling at a chunk of wood. I am not carving anything, I am just whittling at some wood.
See also: whittle
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
- whittle at
- whittle away at (something)
- whittle away
- hew out of
- hew
- hew (something) out of (something)
- carve up
- hew out
- carve out
- carve (something) from (something)