whittle away in the Oxford Spanish Dictionary

Translations for whittle away in the English»Spanish Dictionary

I.whittle away VB [Am ˈ(h)wɪdl -, Brit ˈwɪt(ə)l -] (v + o + adv, v + adv + o) (reduce)

whittle away funds/resources

ir mermando

whittle away influence

ir reduciendo

whittle away influence

ir disminuyendo

whittle away rights

ir menoscabando

gambling had whittled away his savings

el juego le había ido mermando los ahorros

gambling had whittled away his savings

el juego le había ido comiendo los ahorros inf

II.whittle away VB [Am ˈ(h)wɪdl -, Brit ˈwɪt(ə)l -] (v + adv)

to whittle away at sth

ir minando or socavando algo

these failures have been whittling away at her self-confidence

estos fracasos han ido minando or socavando su confianza en sí misma

he sat there whittling away at a stick

estaba allí sentado tallando una vara

Translations for whittle away in the English»Spanish Dictionary

I.whittle [Am ˈ(h)wɪdl, Brit ˈwɪt(ə)l] VB trans

whittle wood/stick:

whittle

tallar

I whittled the ends down to a point

les saqué punta a los extremos (con una navaja, un cuchillo etc)

II.whittle [Am ˈ(h)wɪdl, Brit ˈwɪt(ə)l] VB intr

whittle

hacer tallas

I.away [Am əˈweɪ, Brit əˈweɪ] ADV away often appears as the second element of certain verb structures in English (back away, do away with, slip away, etc.). For translations, see the relevant verb entry (back, do, slip, etc.).

1.1. away (from place, person):

I looked away

aparté la vista

he limped away

se alejó cojeando

they dragged the fallen tree away

se llevaron el árbol caído arrastrándolo

I turned away

me di la vuelta

I turned away

me di vuelta CSur

1.2. away (indicating removal):

the bark had been stripped away

habían quitado la corteza

2.1. away (in the distance):

it isn't far away

no queda lejos

we're still a long way away

todavía estamos muy lejos

Easter is a long way away

falta mucho para Pascua

it's 20 miles away

queda a 20 millas

she lives an hour's drive away

vive a una hora de aquí en coche

2.2. away (absent):

she's away in Canada

está en Canadá

they're both away today

ninguno de los dos está hoy

I'll be away all next week

toda la semana que viene no voy a estar or voy a estar fuera

2.3. away SPORTS esp Brit :

to play away

jugar fuera (de casa)

3. away (on one's way):

we were away before sunrise

partimos or salimos antes del amanecer

a couple of drinks and she's away inf

se toma un par de copas y se desata

you only have to mention golf and he's away inf

apenas le mencionas el golf y no hay quien lo pare

4.1. away with imperative:

I've got some questions to ask you — OK, ask away!

tengo algunas preguntas que hacerle —¡dígame!

I've got some questions to ask you — OK, ask away!

tengo algunas preguntas que hacerle —¡pregunte nomás! LatAm

4.2. away (continuously):

he's been painting away all morning

se ha pasado toda la mañana pintando

I could hear him singing away in the bath

lo oía cantar en el baño

5.1. away (into nothing):

the ghostly figure melted away into the darkness

la figura fantasmal se desvaneció en la oscuridad

5.2. away (indicating use of time):

you're dreaming your life away

se te está yendo la vida en sueños

they danced the night away

bailaron toda la noche

6.1. away (in opposite direction to):

to face away from the light

ponerse de espaldas a la luz

the hotel faces away from the sea

el hotel da hacia el lado opuesto al mar

she pulled the child away from the cliff edge

apartó al niño del borde del acantilado

6.2. away (at a distance, separated from):

away

lejos de

away from his family

lejos de su familia

stand well away from the fire

no te acerques al fuego

the ideal place if you want to be/get away from it all

el lugar ideal si te quieres alejar del mundanal ruido

Phrases:

away with liter as prep away with her to the tower!

¡llevadla a la torre!

away with these stale old conventions!

¡abajo con estos convencionalismos caducos!

II.away [Am əˈweɪ, Brit əˈweɪ] ADJ attr

away game or Brit also match

partido m que se juega fuera (de casa)

See also wipe away, waste away, wash away, take away, fire away, fade away, die away, blow away

wipe away VB [Am waɪp -, Brit wʌɪp -] (v + o + adv, v + adv + o) (remove)

wipe away tears

secar

wipe away tears

enjugar liter

wipe away blood

limpiar

wipe away memory

borrar

waste away VB [Am weɪst -, Brit weɪst -] (v + adv)

waste away person/body:

consumirse

waste away muscle:

atrofiarse

wash away VB [Am wɑʃ, wɔʃ -, Brit wɒʃ -] (v + o + adv, v + adv + o)

1. wash away (carry away):

wash away hut/bridge/pier

llevarse

wash away hut/bridge/pier

arrasar con

2. wash away (cleanse):

wash away dirt/stains

quitar (lavando)

wash away sins

quitar

I.take away VB [Am teɪk -, Brit teɪk -] (v + o + adv, v + adv + o)

1. take away (carry away):

take away

llevarse

he took the empty dishes away

retiró or se llevó los platos vacíos

“not to be taken away” (on book)

para consulta en sala

2. take away (lead off):

take away person

llevarse

3. take away (remove, confiscate):

take away possession

quitar

take away possession

sacar CSur

to take away sb's hopes

quitarle las esperanzas a alguien

to take sth away from sb

quitarle algo a alguien

to take sth away from sb

sacarle algo a alguien CSur

he took the ball away from the children

les quitó la pelota a los niños

her children were taken away from her

le quitaron a los niños

they took their children away from the school

sacaron a los niños del colegio

4. take away (erase, obliterate):

this will take the pain/taste away

con esto se te pasará or se te quitará el dolor/gusto

nothing can take away my memories of that trip

nada me puede quitar el recuerdo de aquel viaje

5. take away MATH:

34 take away 13 equals 21

34 menos 13 es igual a 21

if you take away 13 from 34 …

si a 34 le restas 13 …

II.take away VB [Am teɪk -, Brit teɪk -] (v + o + adv)

take it away! inf

¡adelante!

III.take away VB [Am teɪk -, Brit teɪk -] (v + adv + o) Brit

take away food:

take away

llevar

to eat here or take away?

¿para comer aquí o para llevar?

fire away VB [Am ˈfaɪ(ə)r -, Brit ˈfʌɪə -] (v + adv) inf usu in imperative

there are some questions I'd like to ask you — fire away!

quisiera hacerte unas preguntas — ¡adelante!

there are some questions I'd like to ask you — fire away!

quisiera hacerte unas preguntas — ¡pregunta nomás! LatAm

fade away VB [Am feɪd -, Brit feɪd -] (v + adv)

fade away love/grief:

irse apagando

fade away chances/hopes/memory:

desvanecerse

the sound slowly faded away

el sonido se fue apagando poco a poco or gradualmente

he faded away into obscurity

fue cayendo poco a poco en el olvido

you must eat something or you'll fade away

si no comes algo te vas a consumir

die away VB [Am daɪ -, Brit dʌɪ -] (v + adv)

die away storm/wind:

amainar

die away anger/indignation:

pasar

her voice died away

su voz se fue apagando

her voice died away

su voz se fue extinguiendo liter

blow away VB [Am bloʊ -, Brit bləʊ -] sl (v + o + adv)

1. blow away (kill):

blow away

liquidar inf

one more word and I'll blow you away!

una palabra más y te liquido or te vuelo la tapa de los sesos inf

2. blow away (have strong effect on) Am:

that kind of music just blows me away

ese tipo de música me enloquece inf

that kind of music just blows me away

es que flipo con ese tipo de música Spain inf

the tragedy blew me away

la tragedia me dejó anonadado

whittle away in the PONS Dictionary

Translations for whittle away in the English»Spanish Dictionary

whittle away at VB trans

1. whittle away at (take little bits off):

whittle away at

cortar pedazos de

2. whittle away at fig (decrease):

whittle away at

reducir poco a poco

Translations for whittle away in the English»Spanish Dictionary

whittle [ˈwɪtl, Am ˈwɪt̬-] VB trans -ling

whittle

tallar

away [əˈweɪ] ADV

1. away (distant):

10 km away

a 10 km

as far away as possible

lo más lejos posible

to be miles away fig

no prestar atención

2. away (absent):

away

fuera

to be away on holiday

estar de vacaciones

3. away (in future time):

to be only a week away

no faltar más que una semana

right away!

¡enseguida!

4. away (continuously):

to write away

escribir sin cesar

Monolingual examples (not verified by PONS Editors)

English

On the surface, it might not seem like a big deal to see the city whittle away at its rainy-day fund.

www.winnipegfreepress.com

Then you whittle away at them with interactions or attacks.

www.kotaku.com.au

Just stand in a control point to take control of it and whittle away at your opposition.

business.financialpost.com

It can be a daunting task to whittle away at pages of unread e-mails, she says, a chore that can leave you wishing you hadn't come back to the office.

www.theglobeandmail.com

It explores how environments whittle away at the soul and morals of the underserved.

www.washingtonpost.com

Our brains learn to whittle away at life's rough edges until we become who we are as adults.

www.theverge.com

District officials were able to whittle away at that list over the summer, as others retired or quit, and financial projections at some schools changed.

sfpublicpress.org

The songwriting process is sort of like automatic writing for us; make up some gibberish to go with a tune and then whittle away at it until meaning emerges.

www.digitaljournal.com

Organizational changes continued to whittle away at the wing's strength in 1966 and 1967.

en.wikipedia.org

Watch out for high mutual fund and management fees, which can whittle away at your savings.

www.afr.com