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Synonyms

at it

Idioms  

  1. Vigorously pursuing an activity, especially a fight, but also sex or some other activity. For example, Whenever they play bridge they really go at it (fight), or The new job keeps Tom at it day and night (works hard), or In the spring the dogs are always at it (sex). Shakespeare used this seemingly modern idiom for “fighting” in Troilus and Cressida (5:3): “They are at it, hark!” [Late 1500s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“But if you keep at it for a while, you can get a really good product out of it,” Kanekar added.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026

Was there someone who ... was powerful who let him off the hook, and I just thought it was a good time to take a new look at it like a cold case detective would.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

"When you finish a jigsaw you can either look at it and enjoy, or you can smash it up and start again. I didn't want to start again."

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

He worked at it through months of frustration, but one evening, while his wife enjoyed a bridge game with friends, he drove back over to the Labs and tried a different approach.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

Something I liked even though I wasn’t trying to be great at it—because I wasn’t trying to be great at it.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.