grind away

phrasal verb

ground away; grinding away; grinds away
1
: to work or study in a steady, determined way
She was grinding away at her studies.
2
: to remove (a part of something) by rubbing something rough against it
He uses a special tool to grind away the stone.

Examples of grind away in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
At the same time, the EU’s slow regulatory wheels were grinding away, culminating in the implementation of the EU’s MiCA regulation last year. Sean Lee, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025 The laborious, sedentary grinding away of computer code was considered glorified secretary work: feminine. Constance Grady, Vox, 14 Apr. 2025 Instead of letting Florida dictate the tempo, the Huskies slowed the game down, grinding away at the Gators’ offensive rhythm. Don Yaeger, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2025 Meanwhile, busy founders keep grinding away at tasks that could be automated. Jodie Cook, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025 Pedraza ground away at it for three years before shutting it down in 2014 due to an inability to retain users. Iain Martin, Forbes, 4 Feb. 2025 An environment that divides workers either by intent or by accident grinds away at individuals and ultimately undermines the whole organization. Aparna Rae, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025 Through all the losing Garrett has been Garrett, grinding away every Sunday, trying to make an impact on a team going nowhere. Jim Ingraham, Forbes, 14 Dec. 2024 William Harcourt-Smith, an associate professor of anthropology at Lehman College who was not involved in the study, said the species likely evolved to eat challenging foods like hard nuts or to grind away at tough, low-quality foods like shrubby plants. Evan Bush, NBC News, 28 Nov. 2024

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Grind away.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grind%20away. Accessed 2 May. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!