Definition of Chip away

1. Verb. Remove or withdraw gradually:. "These new customs are chipping away at the quality of life"

Exact synonyms: Chip Away At
Generic synonyms: Remove, Take, Take Away, Withdraw

Definition of Chip away

1. Verb. (idiomatic intransitive) To reduce or weaken bit by bit. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Chip Away

chinwag
chinwagged
chinwagging
chinwags
chiolite
chionablepsia
chionodoxa
chionodoxas
chionophile
chionophiles
chip
chip-blower
chip-shot
chip and PIN
chip at
chip away (current term)
chip away at
chip graft
chip in
chip leader
chip leaders
chip log
chip off
chip off the old block
chip on one's shoulder
chip shop
chip shot
chip syringe
chip up
chipboard

Literary usage of Chip away

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Manual of Practical Anatomy by Daniel John Cunningham (1921)
"After the saw cuts are made take the bone forceps and chip away the frontal bone between the saw cuts, to the level of the floor of the anterior fossa. ..."

2. The Silent Readers by William Dodge Lewis, Albert Lindsay Rowland (1920)
"Reaching down he grasped the nearest fragment of rock, and began to chip away a comer of the boulder on which he sat. The first bit that was broken from it ..."

3. International Library of Technology: A Series of Textbooks for Persons by International Textbook Company (1907)
"... necessary to chip away a large amount of metal so that there is not sufficient metal to fill in, a small piece of copper or tough wrought iron can be ..."

4. Harper's New Monthly Magazine by Henry Mills Alden (1874)
"Tom seized a log to make a thrust, To lay the Indian in the dust ; The Indian ran away— So swift he cut his stick, he must Have been a Chip-away. ..."

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