whittle down
phrasal verb
whittled down; whittling down; whittles down
: to gradually make (something) smaller by removing parts
We whittled the list down to four people.
Examples of whittle down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
That primary would whittle down the field to two candidates who would appear on the final ballot for the Nov. 4 municipal election.
—
Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 28 Mar. 2025
That list was whittled down to three, who were then bought in for interviews.
—Erika I. Ritchie, Oc Register, 28 Mar. 2025
So Thibodeau’s options have been whittled down to just one: Tyler Kolek, the rookie selected out of Marquette 34th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 27 Mar. 2025
From that group, 13 more cities were invited to participate in the RFP stage, and that was again whittled down to the six semi-finalists.
—Brian Welk, IndieWire, 27 Mar. 2025
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“Whittle down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whittle%20down. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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