whittle
verb [ T ] uk/ˈwɪt.əl/ us/ˈwɪt̬.əl/
（用木头）削制，削成
to make something from a piece of wood by cutting off small, thin pieces
An old sailor sat on the dockside, whittling a toy boat. 一名老水手坐在码头边，用木头削制一只玩具船。
Phrasal verbs
whittle away at something 削减；削弱
to gradually reduce the size or importance of something
These measures will whittle away at the budget deficit. 这些方法将会逐渐减少预算赤字。
whittle something down 使缩小；使（人数）减少
to gradually reduce the size of something or the number of people in a group
We had 80 applicants for the job, but we've whittled them down to six. 这个职位我们有80位申请者，我们已经将其筛减到了6位。