fritter away

Idioms  

1. 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.”

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Example Sentences

For now, however, many young workers should still be able to find positions so they can afford to fritter away their youth, as is tradition.

From Barron's • May 29, 2026

I clear my schedule and hole up in the library, only to fritter away hours doing everything but writing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

But in recent years, that shame has started to fritter away - at least in some quarters.

From BBC • Oct. 16, 2025

Except that anyone familiar with the history of the Chargers and their ability to fritter away leads had to know it was far from over.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2023

“You don’t mess around like that. You just don’t fritter away all your luck.”

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien