Whittle

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
Whittle
    n 1: English aeronautical engineer who invented the jet aircraft
         engine (1907-1996) [syn: {Whittle}, {Frank Whittle}, {Sir
         Frank Whittle}]
    v 1: cut small bits or pare shavings from; "whittle a piece of
         wood" [syn: {whittle}, {pare}]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
       [1913 Webster]

   {Whittle shawl}, a kind of fine woolen shawl, originally and
      especially a white one.
      [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
   [1913 Webster]

         He wore a Sheffield whittle in his hose. --Betterton.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Whittle \Whit"tle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Whittled}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Whittling}.]
   [1913 Webster]
   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To edge; to sharpen; to render eager or excited; esp., to
      excite with liquor; to inebriate. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            "In vino veritas." When men are well whittled, their
            tongues run at random.                --Withals.
      [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]
    
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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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