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daily grind

daily grind

4 4.2
A boring, tiring routine of everyday work and chores
  • noun
  • /ˈdeɪli ɡraɪnd/
  • Informal
translation icon : rutina diaria
  • Many people feel overwhelmed by the daily grind of work and household chores.
  • escape from the daily grind
  • break from the daily grind
  • away from the daily grind

I had this image that they just figured out how to make the daily grind just tolerable.

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Examples

  • So I think it's important for folks to get away from the daily grind from time to time.

  • Then I was back to CT and the daily grind.

    Blog text (28)
  • Anyway, I got to get back to my daily grind, so....

  • In the daily grind, it is easy to lose track of time.

    Academic text (2011)
  • We mean useful stuff that could really make a difference in your daily grind.

    Blog text (30)
  • I struggle with the daily grind, trading days for dollars, but you help me make it happen.

  • But the daily grind of life interfering got to me.

    Blog text (22)
  • For a long time, I felt like my routines had become a dreaded daily grind.

    Blog text (9)
  • When I think "vacation," I imagine idleness, sloth, recovery from the daily grind and rat race.

    Blog text (12)
  • I'm looking for August to be much smoother as I'm merging back into the daily grind of things.

    Blog text (28)

Synonyms

grind
vsdaily grind
32 5.6

Work that is tiring and boring and happens every day

focuses more on a tiring pattern of work and chores
daily routine
vsdaily grind
21 1.0

A usual order of things a person does every day

applies when that normal sequence is monotonous and exhausting
drudgery
vsdaily grind
13 7.0

Boring, hard work that you do again and again

is more about the everyday tiring pattern of work and tasks
treadmill
vsdaily grind
  • Informal
12 4.2

A boring repetitive situation that feels never-ending

is about a tiring daily pattern rather than the sense of no escape
grunt work
vsdaily grind
  • Informal
10 5.3

Boring, simple jobs that are necessary and take a lot of time

covers overall tiring daily work rather than only low level tasks
daily round
vsdaily grind
1 3.2

Usual tasks a person does every day

adds monotony and physical or mental tiredness to those usual tasks
mundane routine
vsdaily grind
2.3

A daily pattern of plain unexciting activities like work and chores

adds the idea of tiring and wearing work to that plain pattern

Antonyms

582 1.3

A group of different kinds of things

434 1.0

A strong feeling of happiness and eagerness, or something that causes it

How Tiring

drudgery
13 7.0
daily grind
  • Informal
4 4.2
daily routine
21 1.0

Surface Forms

daily grind singular
daily grinds plural

Morphology

daily + grind

The meaning 'the monotonous and tiring routine' is directly derivable from combining 'daily' (every day) with 'grind' (hard, monotonous work): the phrase simply denotes the everyday instance of such grinding work. This is a straightforward compositional pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Daily grind may come from the picture of a stone in a mill that grinds grain every day, turning in the same hard movement again and again. So, the phrase compares work that repeats each day to that slow action and means 'a tiring, boring routine'.