to hammer away at
5
4.8
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
trabajar en
- She has been hammering away at her novel for months, determined to finish it by summer.
- keep hammering away at
- hammering away at the issue
Whatever it is, you know, you have to keep just hammering away at it.
- Whatever it is, you know, you have to keep just hammering away at it.
- Would you just be hammering away at we are the next AI AI behemoth or would you go the Tim Cook route and just barely even acknowledge it?
Examples
-
Back at his desk, John hammered away at his computer, whacking out excess words, tightening the rhetoric, rephrasing, clarifying, editing with a vengeance.
Fiction book (1992) -
Steve Jobs was always basking in the limelight during his famous keynotes and never missed an opportunity to hammer away at the competition.
Blog text (1) -
The strategy suggested that hammering away at this issue would ensure victory in November.
Blog text (3) -
I frequently review my retirement portfolio and think I really need to hammer away at this thing and get it as full as I can.
Blog text (17) -
For the past 200 years, the enemies of the gospel have been hammering away at the foundations.
Blog text (8) -
What the Republicans must do is keep hammering away at the fact that Medicare is broke and broken.
Blog text (30) -
I don't like hammer away at too many proofs in this course, but this is like the central fact and it brings in all the stuff we know.
-
When they entered the throne room, they found the King diligently hammering away at a computer set up beside his throne.
Fiction book (2001) -
Regulatory takings law got a big boost from the Court's decision in Lucas, but Smith was hammering away at the issue before that and has continued doing so.
Academic text (1997) -
For the first three months of class, Foster hammered away at the idea of the subject and object (we never heard the words nominative and accusative cases).
Academic text (1994)
Synonyms
6
5.2
To work slowly and steadily on a difficult task
5
6.7
To work hard for a long time on a task that is difficult or tiring
4
7.4
Do very hard, long jobs until you are very tired
3
6.3
To work hard for a long time without stopping
1
7.7
To work hard for a long time on a difficult task without stopping
1
6.3
Work hard for a long time on something, often before an exam or deadline
1
6.4
To work hard and steadily for a long time
To work on a task with a lot of energy for a long time
To keep working for a long time on something difficult or boring
To do very hard, long tasks until you are very tired
To keep working hard on a difficult or long task
Antonyms
How Persistent
47
5.3
35
5.3
- Informal
5
4.8
5
6.7
∞
2.6
45
4.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to work persistently' is a fairly direct metaphorical extension of 'hammer' (to strike repeatedly) combined with 'away' (continuous action) and 'at' (targeting something), so a learner who knows the constituents can plausibly infer persistent, repeated effort. Because this is a metaphorical rather than strictly compositional use (the action is figurative rather than literal), it is not fully transparent but is predictable, so it is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
The phrasal verb hammer away at comes from the clear image of someone using a hammer to hit the same spot again and again until it moves or breaks. So, hammer away at means 'to keep working hard on something for a long time'.