to whittle away at something
11whittle — [[t](h)wɪ̱t(ə)l[/t]] whittles, whittling, whittled VERB If you whittle something from a piece of wood, you carve it by cutting pieces off the wood with a knife. [V n] He whittled a new handle for his ax... [V n] Chitty sat in his rocking chair… …
12whittle something away — ˌwhittle sthaˈway derived to make sth gradually decrease in value or amount • Inflation has steadily whittled away their savings. Main entry: ↑whittlederived …
13whittle — verb (I, T) to cut a piece of wood into a particular shape by cutting off small pieces with a small knife whittle sth away phrasal verb (T) to gradually reduce the amount or value of something: centralizing measures that had whittled away the… …
14whittle — verb 1》 carve (wood) by repeatedly cutting small slices from it. ↘make by whittling. 2》 (whittle something away/down) reduce something by degrees. Origin C16: from dialect whittle knife …
15whittle something away/down — reduce something by degrees. → whittle …
16wear away — verb 1. cut away in small pieces • Syn: ↑whittle away, ↑whittle down • Hypernyms: ↑damage • Verb Frames: Somebody s something Something s something …
17Economic Affairs — ▪ 2006 Introduction In 2005 rising U.S. deficits, tight monetary policies, and higher oil prices triggered by hurricane damage in the Gulf of Mexico were moderating influences on the world economy and on U.S. stock markets, but some other… …
18Havok (comics) — Superherobox caption=Havok from the cover of X Men: Emperor Vulcan #1. comic color=background:#ff8080 character name=Havok real name=Alexander Alex Summers species=Human Mutant publisher=Marvel Comics debut= Uncanny X Men #54 (March, 1969)… …
19Nephandi — articleissues unreferenced=December 2007 in universe=June 2008 notable=June 2008The Nephandi are a fictional group of mages in the role playing game dedicated broadly to spreading corruption, decay, and discord.When taking the roots of modern day …
20Generalized continued fraction — In analysis, a generalized continued fraction is a generalization of regular continued fractions in canonical form in which the partial numerators and the partial denominators can assume arbitrary real or complex values.A generalized continued… …
