to chisel away
1
5.4
- phrasal verb
:
esculpir
- An international array of styles is apparent on the final reliefs, and the artists may have spoken a polyglot of Luwian, Phoenician, and Aramaic as they chiseled away.
- begin to chisel away
You don't need just chisel away at all the work and all the things.
- You don't need just chisel away at all the work and all the things.
Examples
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"It's like they almost tried to stucco over it, so we started chiseling away and found the little seam."
Blog text (15) -
And what will I do while you chisel away?
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You don't need just chisel away at all the work and all the things.
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I was just thinking about that sculptor chiseling away at that rock.
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Earth was there to be pulled away, blasted, and chiseled away from what you were hoping to find.
Fiction book (1993) -
I think now, in having crafted it, and shaved it and chiseled away at it, that it's more than that.
-
President Barack Obama's weak performance chiseled away his lead in key polls, and the industries that Democrats favor have also been sliding.
Blog text (1) -
Governments in Europe, in contrast, are chiseling away at education budgets instead of using the financial crisis to reallocate funds to education as part of an overhaul of the system.
Blog text (19) -
The workers chiseled away at the stone until a beautiful sculpture emerged.
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Over the years, the team chiseled away at their skills, improving with each practice.
Synonyms
27
4.0
Remove an outside layer or covering from something to show what is under it
24
4.2
To make something smaller or weaker by removing small parts slowly
18
4.6
Gradually make something weaker by repeated small actions
17
4.1
Slowly damages metal, rock and someone's confidence by chemicals or steady pressure
5
3.4
To remove a part from something with a knife or tool
3
5.9
To make something smaller gradually by cutting or wearing it away
1
3.4
Remove a mark by moving a cloth or hand over it many times
1
3.9
To remove small pieces from a surface by cutting or hitting it
Antonyms
How Gradual
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to gradually remove or reduce' is directly inferable from combining 'chisel' (to cut away material in small pieces) with 'away' (to remove or cause to disappear). The extension to non-physical contexts (e.g., savings) is a transparent metaphor built on the literal action, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to deduce the sense.
Etymology
Chisel away comes from the image of a sculptor using a chisel to chip small pieces of stone away bit by bit until a statue appears. So, it means 'to remove or reduce something little by little through steady effort'.