Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

whittle down to size

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.83 in modern English

Syllables: whit-tle -down -to -size
IPA

36

Scrabble Score

17

Letters

5

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

Synonym of cut down to size.

Example Sentences

"If he starts playing the big, tough hombre on the southside, those boys are just liable to whittle him down to size.""
"She seldom suffered fools. With one withering glance, she could whittle my father, who was a big man, down to size."
"And also, they're scared that the girls are going to realize what a hottie you are (which they will, if you ever talk to 'em), so they're trying to whittle you down to size before you steal all the women."

Inflected Forms

whittles down to size (present, singular) whittling down to size (participle, present) whittled down to size (participle, past) whittled down to size (past)

Synonyms

cut down to size

Questions

What does whittle down to size mean?: Synonym of cut down to size.

How to pronounce whittle down to size

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