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.
A team that was being run into the ground by a superstar and his agent just regained control of its identity again.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2025
A sure sign that a comic strip has run out of creative or even mildly amusing observations is its return to a recurring theme that other cartoon artists have run into the ground.
From Washington Post • Apr. 29, 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
They meant that the company could replace things before they were run into the ground and failed.
From Slate • Apr. 10, 2019
These burrows are cylindrical; they are often an inch in diameter and run into the ground to a depth of more than a foot; but they are not perpendicular.
From The Life of the Spider by Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander
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.
