Whittle

n.	1.	A grayish, coarse double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of England, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl. Whittle shawl a kind of fine woolen shawl, originally and especially a white one.
	1.	A knife; esp., a pocket, sheath, or clasp knife. He wore a Sheffield whittle in his hose. - Betterton.
v. t.	1.	To pare or cut off the surface of with a small knife; to cut or shape, as a piece of wood held in the hand, with a clasp knife or pocketknife.
	2.	To edge; to sharpen; to render eager or excited; esp., to excite with liquor; to inebriate. "In vino veritas." When men are well whittled, their tongues run at random. - Withals.
v. i.	1.	To cut or shape a piece of wood with am small knife; to cut up a piece of wood with a knife. Dexterity with a pocketknife is a part of a Nantucket education; but I am inclined to think the propensity is national. Americans must and will whittle. - Willis.

Verb

1.

whittle - cut small bits or pare shavings from; "whittle a piece of wood" Synonyms: pare

amputate, ax, bisect, blade, butcher, carve, chop, cleave, cold steel, cut, cut away, cut in two, cut off, cutlery, cutter, dagger, dichotomize, dissever, edge tools, excise, fissure, gash, hack, halve, hew, incise, jigsaw, knife, lance, naked steel, pare, pigsticker, point, prune, puncturer, rend, rive, saw, scissor, sever, sharpener, slash, slice, slit, snip, split, steel, sunder, sword, tear, toad sticker