Whittle vs Decrease - What's the difference?
whittle | decrease |
A knife; especially, a pocket knife, sheath knife, or clasp knife.
* Dryden
* Macaulay
* Betterton
(transitive, or, intransitive) To cut or shape wood with a knife.
To reduce or gradually eliminate something (such as a debt).
(figurative) To make eager or excited; to excite with liquor; to inebriate.
* Withals
(archaic) A coarse greyish double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of England, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl.
(archaic) A whittle shawl; a kind of fine woollen shawl, originally and especially a white one.
Of a quantity, to become smaller.
To make (a quantity) smaller.
An amount by which a quantity is decreased.
(knitting) A reduction in the number of stitches, usually accomplished by suspending the stitch to be decreased from another existing stitch or by knitting it together with another stitch. See .
In lang=en terms the difference between whittle and decrease
is that whittle is to reduce or gradually eliminate something (such as a debt) while decrease is to make (a quantity) smaller.As nouns the difference between whittle and decrease
is that whittle is a knife; especially, a pocket knife, sheath knife, or clasp knife or whittle can be (archaic) a coarse greyish double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of england, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl while decrease is an amount by which a quantity is decreased.As verbs the difference between whittle and decrease
is that whittle is (transitive|or|intransitive) to cut or shape wood with a knife while decrease is of a quantity, to become smaller.whittle
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl)Noun
(en noun)- A butcher's whittle .
- Rude whittles .
- He wore a Sheffield whittle in his hose.
Verb
(whittl)- When men are well whittled , their tongues run at random.
Derived terms
* whittle down * whittlingEtymology 2
From an (etyl) word for "white"; akin to an Icelandic word for a white bedcover.Noun
(en noun)- (Charles Kingsley)
