WHITTLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Whittle mean? 

• WHITTLE (noun)
  The noun WHITTLE has 1 sense:

1. English aeronautical engineer who invented the jet aircraft engine (1907-1996)

  Familiarity information: WHITTLE used as a noun is very rare.

• WHITTLE (verb)
  The verb WHITTLE has 1 sense:

1. cut small bits or pare shavings from

  Familiarity information: WHITTLE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WHITTLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

English aeronautical engineer who invented the jet aircraft engine (1907-1996)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Frank Whittle; Sir Frank Whittle; Whittle

Instance hypernyms:

aeronautical engineer (an engineer concerned with the design and construction of aircraft)

• WHITTLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they whittle    ... he / she / it whittles   
Past simple: whittled   
Past participle: whittled   
-ing form: whittling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cut small bits or pare shavings from

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

pare; whittle

Context example:

whittle a piece of wood

Hypernyms (to "whittle" is one way to...):

cut (separate with or as if with an instrument)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

whittler (someone who whittles (usually as an idle pastime))

 Context examples 

I went with Musgrave to his study and whittled myself this peg, to which I tied this long string with a knot at each yard.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

John Thornton was whittling the last touches on an axe-handle he had made from a stick of birch.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

These I whittled into shavings or split into kindling.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

This system, along with computer modeling and further tests performed both in and outside of cells, whittled the thousands of candidate molecules down to eight that could bind to SENP2 in cells and were non-toxic.

(Hibernating ground squirrels provide clues to new stroke treatments, National Institutes of Health)

“Get up there, Buck! Hi! Get up there! Mush on!” Thornton went on whittling.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

He whittled and listened, gave monosyllabic replies, and, when it was asked, terse advice.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)