whittle down

英 [ˈwɪtl daʊn]

美 [ˈwɪtl daʊn]

逐渐减少; 逐渐压缩…的人数

柯林斯词典

• PHRASAL VERB 逐渐减少;逐渐压缩…的人数
  Towhittle downa group or thing means to gradually make it smaller.
  1. He had whittled eight interviewees down to two...
     他已经逐渐将参加面试的人数由8人减少到2人。
  2. By September, they will have whittled the list down to a winner...
     9月之前他们会从名单中确定出最后的赢家。
  3. The president has agreed to whittle down his proposal.
     总统已经同意减少他的提案。

英英释义

verb

• cut away in small pieces
  Synonym:whittle awaywear away

双语例句

• Whittle the stick down a bit more.
  把木棍再削细点儿。
• Just whittle it down, you know?
  把它简化一点？
• Eventually, users can whittle that fee down to nothing by tying their computers to The Pirate Bay's "cloud" network.
  不过，如果用户愿意把自己的电脑加入海盗湾的“云”计算网络，那么他们的月费就可以被减免。
• The president has agreed to whittle down his proposal.
  总统已经同意减少他的提案。
• Their resistance and boycott threat might instead be more of an effort to whittle down the markup that Rio Tinto is seeking in current contract negotiations.
  他们的反对和抵制威胁或许更是一种为打击力拓的涨价企图而采取的策略。
• More than 70,000 people voted in the first round to whittle it down to a shortlist of 10 and members of the public now have six weeks to choose which British bird they would like to see represent the country, he said.
  他说，超过7万民众参与了第一轮投票，海选过后得出十个最终候选鸟，在接下来的六周里，民众就要选出哪种鸟最能代表英国。
• By September, they will have whittled the list down to a winner
  9月之前他们会从名单中确定出最后的赢家。
• While the military gap between China and the United States may remain for some time, he argued, china's faster economic growth and increasing political strength may whittle down america's overall advantage.
  他辩称，尽管中国和美国相比，军事上还有一段时间的差距，但中国更快的经济增长和日趋强大的政治实力应可削减美国的总体优势。
• Other ways to whittle down banks are thinkable.
  另外一些削减银行的办法是值得考虑的。
• He had whittled eight interviewees down to two
  他已经逐渐将参加面试的人数由8人减少到2人。