peg away at

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

For the moment, I must peg away at what I have in hand—biggish stuff, I fear, in bulk and possible unserialisability, to saddle you withal.

Peg away at one another, If you choose such fools to be: But leave me alone; don't bother, Bullyrag and worry me!

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

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.

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