hammer away at
Keep at something continuously, as in The reporters hammered away at the candidate. This phrase employs hammer in the sense of “beat repeatedly,” a usage dating from the mid-1600s.
QUIZZES
CAN YOU ACE THIS QUIZ ABOUT “COMPLIMENT” VS. “COMPLEMENT”?
Take this quiz to see if you really know the difference between “compliment” and “complement"!
Question 1 of 11
“Compliment” and “complement” had a shared meaning a long time ago, but today they are no longer interchangeable.
Words nearby hammer away at
hammarskjöld, hammarskjöld, dag, hammer, hammer and sickle, hammer and tongs, hammer away at, hammer beam, hammer blow, hammer drill, hammer finger, hammer mill
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.