"whittle down" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "whittles down",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whittling down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whittled down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whittled down",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "whittle down (third-person singular simple present whittles down, present participle whittling down, simple past and past participle whittled down)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"down\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "whittle down to size"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2023 March 30, Carlotta Gall, “Ukrainians in a Hidden Command Post See Bakhmut Going Their Way”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "To Ukraine, it has become an important line to hold, both to whittle down Russia’s forces and to deprive them of a victory.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To reduce gradually by removing pieces."
      ],
      "id": "en-whittle_down-en-verb-AWq9ufhS",
      "links": [
        [
          "reduce",
          "reduce"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To reduce gradually by removing pieces."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "whittle down"
}

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "whittle down to size"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "whittles down",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whittling down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whittled down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whittled down",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "whittle down (third-person singular simple present whittles down, present participle whittling down, simple past and past participle whittled down)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrasal verbs",
        "English phrasal verbs formed with \"down\"",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2023 March 30, Carlotta Gall, “Ukrainians in a Hidden Command Post See Bakhmut Going Their Way”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "To Ukraine, it has become an important line to hold, both to whittle down Russia’s forces and to deprive them of a victory.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To reduce gradually by removing pieces."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "reduce",
          "reduce"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To reduce gradually by removing pieces."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "whittle down"
}