What does whittle mean?
Word: Whittle
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Whittle means to shape a piece of wood by cutting off thin slices with a small knife. It also means to make something smaller bit by bit, as in whittling down a list.
Synonyms: shave, trim
How do you spell whittle?
Syllables: whit - tle
Tricky part: The h after the w is not sounded, just as in white and whisper, so students often write wittle.
Watch out for: wittle, wittled
Memory tip: Each stroke of the knife sends a curl of wood off with a soft whoosh: whoosh and whittle both open with that breathy wh.
Whittle in a sentence
Example 1: Grandpa whittled a small sparrow from a piece of neem wood.
Example 2: Mohan's pocket money was whittled down to fifty pence by the end of the fair.
Example 3: Scouts learn to whittle safely by always cutting away from their bodies.
Fun Fact
Whittle grew out of thwitel, an old name for a large knife, which came from an Old English verb meaning to cut.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
During the summer holidays, Kofi learnt to whitle a soft stick into a tiny boat.
a) holidays
b) learnt
c) stick
d) whitle
Show answer
d) whitle. Whittle needs a double t, as in kitten and bitter.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
tetlhiw
a) whittle
b) whistle
c) kettle
d) whither
Show answer
a) whittle. Whistle needs an s, whither an r and kettle a k, and the jumble has none of these.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) splinter
b) whittel
c) sculpture
d) carpenter
Show answer
b) whittel. Whittle ends in -le, the same as candle and puddle.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word: whittle
a) polish
b) stitch
c) paint
d) carve
Show answer
d) carve. To whittle is to carve wood by cutting thin slices off it.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these could you whittle?
a) a fallen branch
b) a sheet of paper
c) a lump of clay
d) a smooth pebble
Show answer
a) a fallen branch
2. The coach whittled thirty names down to eleven. This means the list became ____.
a) neater
b) longer
c) older
d) shorter
Show answer
d) shorter
