to grind away
1
6.3
- phrasal verb
- /ɡraɪnd əˈweɪ/
- Informal
:
estudiar intensamente
- Students were grinding away at their textbooks every night to prepare for the upcoming exams.
Grinding away, grinding away, grinding away, then saying, OK, now we have the confidence we're doing our own silicon for all the iPhones and iPod, iPads and such.
- Grinding away, grinding away, grinding away, then saying, OK, now we have the confidence we're doing our own silicon for all the iPhones and iPod, iPads and such.
Examples
-
And, and, and just knowing that you've got to keep grinding away because that is essentially what a business is about.
-
We'll see, you know, but I'm certainly going to grind away and try to get as much of this done as I can.
-
Sneak up on it, grind away at it.
-
The way he's grinding away attempting to refine his offensive repertoire is admirable.
Blog text (20) -
As he ground away at his project, the deadline loomed ever closer, pushing him to work harder.
-
She decided to grind away in the library, studying late into the night for her final exams.
Synonyms
60
3.7
To work hard for a long time at a dull or repeated task
15
3.9
Study very hard in a short time for an exam
9
7.6
To study quickly before an exam or important event
6
5.2
To work slowly and steadily on a difficult task
5
4.8
To work hard for a long time on something
5
6.7
To work hard for a long time on a task that is difficult or tiring
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
To study a lot in a short time before a test
To study very hard before an exam
Study something a lot in a short time to prepare for an exam
To keep working hard on a difficult or long task
To work on a task with a lot of energy for a long time
Work very hard for a short time to finish a task
Antonyms
How Hard
47
5.3
35
5.3
- Informal
1
6.3
- Informal
11
4.4
∞
1.0
45
4.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'grind' already conveys persistent, laborious effort and the particle 'away' indicates continued/steady action, so their combination directly yields the meaning 'work or study persistently.' This is a regular verb+particle compositional pattern found across languages and should be inferable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The phrasal verb grind away may come from the picture of someone using a hand mill to grind grain away for a long time, a slow, steady and tiring job. So grind away means 'to study or work persistently'.