English Dictionary

WHITTLE

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

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)play

  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 fromplay

  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)

 Conjugation: 
Present simple: I / you / we / they whittle  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation ... he / she / it whittles  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
Past simple: whittled  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
Past participle: whittled  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
-ing form: whittling  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation


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)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"Do unto others as you would have done to you." (English proverb)

"To the man behave like a man, to the dog behave like a dog." (Albanian proverb)

"Write the bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble." (Arabic proverb)

"Comparing apples and pears." (Dutch proverb)



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