whittle

For the next three years, he studied hours a day for the exam that would whittle down the applicants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

For more than a decade, I’ve been teaching a course at the California Institute of the Arts called American Drama Now, and each year the selection of plays has become harder to whittle down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Builders had hoped to capitalize on a busy spring buying season to whittle down inventories, but it was disappointing.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026

Trying to whittle down thousands of players from 22 tournaments spread over almost a century to pick the top 10 World Cup legends of all time.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

The first day is used to whittle down two hundred fencers to forty-eight.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

That’s because inflation whittles away at the real purchasing power of those future interest payments.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026

A newer House version whittles this down to 23 countries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025

This event often whittles down the primary field to a handful of candidates.

From Reuters ● Aug. 16, 2023

Every day, new development next to I-5 whittles away at opportunities to build a connected landscape in Southwest Washington.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 1, 2023

It whittles you down to lie up to fifty times in the space of the fifteen minutes or so it takes to do a “survey,” even when there’s a higher moral purpose to serve.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

Originally conceived as a $23-billion bond measure that the Legislature would approve to go before voters in November, it was whittled down to $12 billion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Even the final list of 16 host cities, whittled down from 23, came down to his personal preferences.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

That marks the reversal of a 15-year period when company buybacks and mergers-and-acquisitions activity whittled down the actual number of shares out there to invest, giving stocks fuel to keep rising, said McElligott.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026

Occidental has since whittled the debt down to $13.3 billion, nearing its target of $10 billion.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

He whittled them with his knife, he rubbed them with sandpaper and with the palm of his hand, until when Laura touched them they felt soft and smooth as silk.

From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The storied conglomerate announced Saturday that after building a record cash holding of $397.4 billion at the end of the first quarter, it spent $31.9 billion, whittling those holdings down to $365.5 billion.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

After whittling what had been a 24-point deficit to four with a little more than three minutes left Saturday, the Bruins could not find the miracle finish they were seeking.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2026

Pochettino’s task now, with only four exhibition matches remaining before the World Cup kicks off, is whittling down a squad that he has spent over a year tinkering with.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025

Billed as a fundraiser, the debt-ridden centre said the money from the portfolios would go towards whittling down a long list of overdue bills, including unpaid wages for educators.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2025

He was whittling, the shavings falling to the floor right outside the kitchen where we were standing.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls