chisel out

English

Verb

chisel out (third-person singular simple present chisels out, present participle (US) chiseling out or (UK) chiselling out, simple past and past participle (US) chiseled out or (UK) chiselled out)

1. (transitive, literally) To empty, hollow or remove substance from (something) using a chisel.
2. (transitive) To make (something) into an exception; to place (a topic) out of consideration.

   We have to chisel out school funding from the debate.