whittle /ˈwɪtl/ ► SEE ALLwhittle sth awaywhittle sb/sth down●ˌwhittle sth aˈway ( ˌwhittle aˈway at sth) to gradually reduce the size, importance or value of sth削减,降低,减少(大小、重要性或价值)◆Inflation has been whittling away their savings. 通货膨胀使他们的积蓄不断贬值。◆Our lead (= in a sports competition, for example) was being gradually whittled away. 我们的领先优势在逐渐缩小。[v + adv + n][v + n/pron + adv]●ˌwhittle sb/sth ˈdownto reduce the size or number of sb/sth gradually逐渐减少,逐渐缩减(大小或数目)◆The government’s majority has been whittled down to eight. 政府多数票逐渐减少到了八票。SYNreduce sb/sth[v + adv + n][v + n/pron + adv]