Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to whittle
Participle: whittled
Gerund: whittling
Cognates
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Indicative
Present
| I | whittle |
| you | whittle |
| he;she;it | whittles |
| we | whittle |
| you | whittle |
| they | whittle |
Perfect
| I | have whittled |
| you | have whittled |
| he;she;it | has whittled |
| we | have whittled |
| you | have whittled |
| they | have whittled |
Past
| I | whittled |
| you | whittled |
| he;she;it | whittled |
| we | whittled |
| you | whittled |
| they | whittled |
Pluperfect
| I | had whittled |
| you | had whittled |
| he;she;it | had whittled |
| we | had whittled |
| you | had whittled |
| they | had whittled |
Future
| I | will whittle |
| you | will whittle |
| he;she;it | will whittle |
| we | will whittle |
| you | will whittle |
| they | will whittle |
Future Perfect
| I | will have whittled |
| you | will have whittled |
| he;she;it | will have whittled |
| we | will have whittled |
| you | will have whittled |
| they | will have whittled |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | whittle |
| you | whittle |
| he;she;it | whittle |
| we | whittle |
| you | whittle |
| they | whittle |
Perfect
| I | have whittled |
| you | have whittled |
| he;she;it | have whittled |
| we | have whittled |
| you | have whittled |
| they | have whittled |
Imperfect
| I | whittled |
| you | whittled |
| he;she;it | whittled |
| we | whittled |
| you | whittled |
| they | whittled |
Pluperfect
| I | had whittled |
| you | had whittled |
| he;she;it | had whittled |
| we | had whittled |
| you | had whittled |
| they | had whittled |
Conditional
Present
| I | would whittle |
| you | would whittle |
| he;she;it | would whittle |
| we | would whittle |
| you | would whittle |
| they | would whittle |
Perfect
| I | would have whittled |
| you | would have whittled |
| he;she;it | would have whittled |
| we | would have whittled |
| you | would have whittled |
| they | would have whittled |
Imperative
| you | whittle |
| we | Let's whittle |
| you | whittle |
Verbs conjugated like 'whittle'
abacinate,
abalienate,
abase,
abate,
abbreviate,
abdicate,
abduce,
aberrate,
aberuncate,
abirritate,
abjudge,
abjudicate,
abjugate,
abjure,
ablactate,
ablaqueate,
able,
ablegate,
abligate,
abnegate, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'whittle'
whistle,
kittle,
pittle,
shuttle,
skittle,
smittle,
spittle,
thwittle,
tittle,
vittle,
Additional Information
Etymology
1. 1552, "to cut thin shavings from (something) with a knife," from M.E. whittel "a knife" (1404), variant of thwittle (1390), from O.E. þwitan "to cut," from P.Gmc. *thwitanan (cf. O.N. þveita "to hew"). Fig. sense is attested from 1746.
2. From Middle English whittel (“large knife”), an alteration of thwitel, itself from thwiten (“to whittle”), from Old English þwītan (“to strike down, whittle”), from Proto-Germanic *þwītaną, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *twey- (“to shake, hurl, toss”). Compare Old Norse þveita (“to hurl”), Ancient Greek σείω (seíō, “I shake”). Related to thwite and thwaite.
Sample Sentences
-
[...] astride of one of these barrels, like a Bacchus of private life; and pulling a great clasp-knife out of his pocket, began to ‘whittle ’ it as he talked, by paring thin slices off the edges. And he whittled with such industry and hearty good will, that but for his being called away very soon, it must have disappeared bodily, and left nothing in its place but grist and shavings.
(American Notes for General Circulation)