fritter away


Squander or waste little by little; wear down gradually. For example, She frittered away her salary on odds and ends and saved nothing. This expression was first recorded in Alexander Pope's Dunciad (1728): “How prologues into prefaces decay, And these to notes are fritter'd quite away.”

Words Nearby fritter away

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

How to use fritter away in a sentence

  • They fear the worst, dread failure, dampen their own confidence, and therefore fritter away their own energy.

    Health Through Will Power | James J. Walsh
  • I repeat that you fritter away your talents and your opportunities upon this miserable task-work on a journal.

    Lucretia, Complete | Edward Bulwer-Lytton
  • Do not fritter away strength in trifles; begin at once upon the duties which call for instant obedience.

    Broken Bread | Thomas Champness
  • It seemed to him a little like 'babying' to fritter away the few minutes remaining in safety play.

  • It is so much nobler to work than it is to fritter away a life doing nothing.

    A Girl of the Commune | George Alfred Henty