run into the ground
Idioms-
Pursue a topic until it has been thoroughly discussed or exhausted, as in They've run the abortion issue into the ground .
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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]
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.
But as the Framers could have warned you, a nation that was dreamed up chiefly by lawyers was almost overdetermined to be run into the ground by them one day.
From Slate • Oct. 27, 2023
I wanted to quit the show before it got really bad and run into the ground.
From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2022
Let’s see if you can last long enough to salvage Jerry Buss’ legacy, which his children have now completely run into the ground.
From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2022
Commenting on the pay ballot results, UCU general secretary Jo Grady said staff had "had enough of pay and working conditions being run into the ground".
From BBC • Nov. 5, 2021
In this peculiarity the history of Newport has been an epitome of the country, every form of amusement being in turn taken up, run into the ground, and then abandoned.
From The Ways of Men by Gregory, Eliot
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
