whittling

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of whittle

plural whittlings

1. plural normallyA chip or shaving whittled from some larger substance.
2. The art of carving shapes out of raw wood using a knife.
3. A process of repeatedly shaving slivers from a piece of wood (non-artistic).
4. broadlyfigurativelyThe reducing of something by degrees, especially at the expense of some effort.

   a whittling down

   1 more example

   Result: nothing would prevent the rapid destruction of the Deco District. Already the developers are calling for a whittling down of the original square mile to a few blocks. The few blocks will no doubt be whittled down to one building, and in the end all that will be left will be a Deco mailbox well pissed on by the local dogs. In another era it was called salami tactics.

   1988, Alexander Cockburn, Corruptions of Empire: Life Studies and the Reagan Era (Haymarket Series), Verso, →ISBN