peg away at

Idioms  

1. Also, plug away at. Work steadily, persist, as in She pegged away at the tax return until she'd finished, or If we keep plugging away at it, the painting will soon be done. These idioms allude to the persistence required to fasten something by driving pegs or seal something by driving a plug. Peg away dates from the early 1800s plug away from the mid-1900s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

peg away at

And to have to do it every day for a whole term, and peg away at scales and arpeggios!

From The Girls of St. Cyprian's A Tale of School Life by Angela Brazil

"Oh! well, you'll only peg away at it when you've a mind," said Alexia carelessly, and setting lazy stitches.

From Five Little Peppers Midway by Margaret Sidney

"Heaven grant that they may be of a kind sufficiently noxious for the doctor to let me peg away at them!"

From Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne

"Let's peg away at this till the chops come," cried Mr. Dundyke.

From Mildred Arkell, Volume II (of 3) A Novel by Mrs. Henry Wood

Oh, by jingo, no: it's quite enough to peg away at it when you are with us, without going at it while you are away.

From Bijou by Gyp