whittle
pronunciation
How to pronounce whittle in British English:
UK [ˈwɪtl]
How to pronounce whittle in American English:
US [ˈhwɪtl, ˈwɪtl]
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- Verb:
- cut small bits or pare shavings from
Word Origin
- whittle (v.)
- 1550s, "to cut thin shavings from (something) with a knife," from Middle English whittel "a knife," especially a large one (c. 1400), variant of thwittle (late 14c.), from Old English þwitan "to cut," from Proto-Germanic *thwit- (cognates: Old Norse þveita "to hew"), from PIE root *twei- "to agitate, shake, toss." Figurative sense is attested from 1746. Related: Whittled; whittling.
Example
- 1. Whittle will tell you that his project breaks no new scientific ground .
- 2. Even more gratifying than the 2600 applications to attend avenues were the 4900 applications it received to teach there , says mr whittle .
- 3. As university of virginia astronomy professor mark whittle tells it , the big bang 13.7 billion years ago spawned a big noise along with billions of stars and galaxies .
- 4. The universe provided a unique , if somewhat imperfect , concert hall for what may have been creation 's opening chord , whittle said .
- 5. Whittle , whose primary area of research relates to galaxy formation , presented his cosmic riff at a recent meeting of the american astronomical society in denver .