Work & careers
chip away at
make gradual progress on a difficult task
If you chip away at a task, you make small amounts of progress on it over time.
Hear it in real life
Have you finished the report?
Not yet, but I'm chipping away at it.
I chip away at my inbox during quiet parts of the afternoon.
The mistake everyone makes
Not: I am chipping away ‸ the backlog.
Say: I am chipping away at the backlog.
The phrase requires the preposition "at" before the task.
Build it
How it fits in a sentence.
chip away at a problem; chipped away at the backlog
Your turn: say it out loud
I chip away at my inbox during quiet parts of the afternoon.
Say it out loud two or three times, until it feels like yours.
chip away at
make gradual progress on a difficult task
“I chip away at my inbox during quiet parts of the afternoon.”
heytardy
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