run into the ground
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Pursue a topic until it has been thoroughly discussed or exhausted, as in They've run the abortion issue into the ground.
Ruin or destroy, as in During her brief time as chief executive Marjorie just about ran the company into the ground. Both usages allude to pushing something so far that it is, in effect, buried. [Early 1800s]
QUIZ
ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ
There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!
Question 1 of 7
True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.
Words nearby run into the ground
run in place, run interference, run in the blood, run into, run into a stone wall, run into the ground, run its course, Runjeet Singh, runless, runlet, run like clockwork
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.