Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Whittle"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Whittle \Whit"tle\, n. [AS. hw[=i]tel, from hwit white; akin to
Icel. hv[=i]till 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Whittle \Whit"tle\, n. [OE. thwitel, fr. AS. pw[=i]tan to cut.
Cf. {Thwittle}, {Thwaite} a piece of ground.]
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Whittle \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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Whittle \Whit"tle\, v. i.
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
whittle
v : cut small bits or pare shavings from; "whittle a piece of
wood" [syn: {pare}]
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