block out vs whittle

block out

verb
  • to begin to reduce to shape; to mark out roughly; to lay out. 

  • to cover something, so as to make it impossible to see. 

  • to prevent from entering or penetrating. 

  • to prevent (a thought) from entering one's mind. 

whittle

verb
  • To reduce or gradually eliminate something (such as a debt). 

  • To cut or shape wood with a knife. 

  • To make eager or excited; to excite with liquor; to inebriate. 

noun
  • A knife; especially, a pocket knife, sheath knife, or clasp knife. 

How often have the words block out and whittle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )