whittling
present participle of whittle
whittling (plural whittlings)
(usually, in the plural) A chip or shaving whittled from some larger substance.
the art of carving shapes out of raw wood using a knife
a process of repeatedly shaving slivers from a piece of wood (non-artistic)
Source: Wiktionary
Whit"tle, n. Etym: [AS. hwitel, from hwit white; akin to Icel. hvitill 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. Whittle shawl, a kind of fine woolen shawl, originally and especially a white one.
Whit"tle, n. Etym: [OE. thwitel, fr. AS. pwitan to cut. Cf. Thwittle, Thwaite a piece of ground.]
Definition: A knife; esp., a pocket, sheath, or clasp knife. "A butcher's whittle." Dryden. "Rude whittles." Macaulay. He wore a Sheffield whittle in his hose. Betterton.
Whit"tle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whittled; p. pr. & vb. n. Whittling.]
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.
2. To edge; to sharpen; to render eager or excited; esp., to excite with liquor; to inebriate. [Obs.] "In vino veritas." When men are well whittled, their tongues run at random. Withals.
Whit"tle, v. i.
Definition: To cut or shape a piece of wood with am small knife; to cut up a piece of wood with a knife. 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
16 June 2025
(noun) raspberry of China and Japan having pale pink flowers grown for ornament and for the small red acid fruits
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.
