chip away

1. 1.

   remove or withdraw gradually: "These new customs are chipping away at the quality of life"

   Synonymschip away at

   Broaderremove

Questions about chip away

What does chip away mean?

chip away means "remove or withdraw gradually: "These new customs are chipping away at the quality of life"".

What is another word for chip away?

Close synonyms include chip away at. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is chip away a common word?

chip away is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.