whittle

削、刻

He sat on the porch whittling a small bird out of driftwood.

他坐在門廊上，用漂流木削出一隻小鳥。

削減、縮減常與 down 連用

The committee whittled the list of applicants to just five.

委員會把申請者名單縮減到只剩五人。

削減、縮減、裁減

They whittled down the budget by cutting overtime pay.

他們靠刪減加班費把預算縮減下來。

逐漸削弱、蠶食常用 whittle away at

Inflation has slowly whittled away at our savings.

通膨慢慢侵蝕了我們的存款。