eat away at

Idioms  

1. Destroy gradually, erode; also, worry one constantly. For example, The sea has been eating away at the outer banks for years, or The fact that he failed the test is eating away at him. [Early 1800s]

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Example Sentences

Speculation that the European Union will water down reforms to its Emissions Trading Scheme weighed on the stock so far this year, as lower carbon prices would eat away at Heidelberg’s relative advantage as a leader in decarbonization.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The Complex” works instead by painstaking accretion—or rather, by erosion, recording in granular detail all the lies and violations that eat away at the Chopras’ respectable facade.

From The Wall Street Journal

Recent trading action notwithstanding, software shares have been battered this year over fears that artificial intelligence will eat away at traditional business models.

From MarketWatch

Shares in the London Stock Exchange Group have fallen as much as 20% this year as investors fear that companies like Anthropic, the AI group, will eat away at its data and analytics business.

From MarketWatch

Investors are assessing whether AI could eat away at the broker industry’s lucrative advisory fees and commissions while virtually eliminating niche businesses such as appraisal.

From The Wall Street Journal