pound the pavement

1. Walk the streets, especially in search of employment. For example, He was fired last year and he's been pounding the pavement ever since. A similar usage is pound a beat, meaning “to walk a particular route over and over”; it is nearly always applied to a police officer. [Early 1900s]

Example Sentences

More happily, the Four Seasons’ music has taken on something of a life of its own, raising the possibility that the group’s catalog — already familiar to a generation of younger listeners thanks to the smash Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” — might continue to thrive into the future without Valli’s having to pound the pavement.

From Los Angeles Times

Runners pound the pavement as cyclists sweep by on the trails in the early morning hours.

From Seattle Times

Among those eager to pound the pavement again was Jonathan Gomas of Milwaukee, who started door-knocking with his parents when he was “big enough to ring a doorbell.”

From Seattle Times

How long it takes this time and who wants to be part of it will factor into the debate as the parties pound the pavement for votes over the next six weeks.

From BBC

Tons of runs: Runners finally able to pound the pavement again have many options from marathons to 5K runs.

From Los Angeles Times