The once numerous field of presidential candidates has been whittled down.

候选人现在已经减少了，而之前还有很多。

As often happens in Italy, a daunting punishment has been whittled down to a mild reproof.

正如意大利的一贯作风，一项骇人的刑罚会逐渐缩水，最后变成温和的责备。

Sand is made when rocks are slowly whittled down into tiny little pebble grains.

当岩石缓慢地被磨成细小的卵石颗粒时，就形成了沙子。

Eight years in the making, Mr Paulin's poetry has been whittled down over years of revision.

历时8年，几经批删，坡林先生成诗十分精悍。

He was very good at whittling, too.

当然他也很会削木头。

We whittled it down over time and picked two on last Friday.

随着时间的推移，我们慢慢筛选，并在上周五选了两个。

So, I whittled down the serious candidates to a shortlist of twelve people.

所以，我把有实力的候选人缩减到12人。

After that, ballots are sent out and the nominations are whittled down by Academy members.

而后选票被送出去, 提名经由学院成员削减。

Some businesses are using artificial intelligence to whittle down a field of job applicants.

一些企业正在使用人工智能对申请者进行筛选。

He whittled and listened, gave monosyllabic replies, and, when it was asked, terse advice.

他一边削，一边听，嘴里嗯、嗯地应着，哈尔发问时，他便简短地给几句忠告。

Landlord, said I, going up to him as cool as Mt. Hecla in a snowstorm-landlord, stop whittling.

老板, 我说, 就象风雪交加的赫克拉山一样冰冷, 走到他跟前去...老板, 别再削火。

John Thornton was whittling the last touches on an axe-handle he had made from a stick of birch.

约翰·桑顿在用桦木棍做斧头柄，正在进行最后的几刀。

We haven't fully recouped all the jobs lost, but we're whittling away at it much more rapidly.

我们还没有完全恢复所有失去的工作岗位，但我们正在以更快的速度减少失业。

He had almost finished whittling the stave into shape, when he realized with a start that he was singing-singing!

他差不多把根棍子削成了弓体，忽然意识到自己唱起歌来了，吃了一惊。唱歌！

But most people might not spend their newfound free time in self-driving cars whittling down their to-do lists.

但是，大多数人可能不会将新获得的自由时间花费在用自动驾驶汽车削减待办事项上。

Confronted with the unknown, human beings generate a chaotic mass of hypotheses that gradually gets whittled down through observation and experiment.

面对未知，人类会提出大量不合理的假设，再通过观察和实验逐渐剥茧抽丝得出结论。

One day as the boy was whittling, his grandfather said, " Why don't you make an animal, Franz? "

一天，弗朗茨正在削木头，他的祖父说，弗朗茨啊为什么不刻个小动物出来呢？

The boy belonged to a wood carver's family, and had learned to whittle when he was just a little fellow.

他的家里是做雕刻的，弗朗茨还是个小家伙的时候就学会削木头了。

Didn't Uncle Buddy whittle it out of a tree you all used to have?

" 那不是巴迪叔叔用你们原有的一棵树的木头做成的吗" ？

OOh, he's a big 'un! Where did he learn tO whittle liKe that?

他真是有头有脸 他在哪里学会刻木头的？