"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 with particle (down)",
          "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": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "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 with particle (down)",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "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": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To reduce gradually by removing pieces."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "reduce",
          "reduce"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To reduce gradually by removing pieces."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "whittle down"
}