whittle

削、刻

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

他坐在门廊上，用漂流木削出一只小鸟。

削减、缩减常与 down 连用

The committee whittled the list of applicants to just five.

委员会把申请者名单缩减到只剩五人。

削减、缩减、裁减

They whittled down the budget by cutting overtime pay.

他们靠删减加班费把预算缩减下来。

逐渐削弱、蚕食常用 whittle away at

Inflation has slowly whittled away at our savings.

通膨慢慢侵蚀了我们的存款。