whittled (down)

past tense of whittle (down)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for whittled (down)
Verb
  • Publications that had previously dedicated resources to writing about extremist political movements, like BuzzFeed News, Vice, The Daily Beast, and others, have since cut back or (in BuzzFeed’s case) stopped doing news altogether.
    Max Tani, semafor.com, 27 Oct. 2025
  • Thin out old growth by cutting back one-third of the older, thicker gray canes to the ground.
    Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 26 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Israeli industry figures from major institutions, including DocAviv Festival, the CoPro market and public broadcaster Kan, have all been turned down from attending the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, one of the world’s leading documentary festivals.
    Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 27 Oct. 2025
  • Be forewarned, though, that consumers with lower credit scores may get turned down.
    Daniel de Visé, USA Today, 26 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • An appeals court knocked down the fine in August but otherwise kept the case intact.
    Surina Venkat, The Hill, 24 Oct. 2025
  • You were knocked down by a bicycle on Columbus Avenue.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Oct. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Whittled (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whittled%20%28down%29. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.

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