eat (away) at (someone or something) 1. To continually bother or worry someone. The precarious state of my finances has really begun to eat at me. I'm... 2. To erode or wear something away. Don't use that harsh cleaner—it will eat away at a soft metal like this.

transitive verb. : to consume by eating : erode. wind eating away the dunes. intransitive verb. : to eat heartily or to repletion. they ate away with right good will. eat away, children, you're …

eat away at something. phrasal verb with eat verb [ I/T ] us / it / past tense ate us / eɪt / | past participle eaten us / ˈi·t ə n /. to slowly damage or destroy something: Waves had eaten away at the sand dunes. (Definition of eat away at something from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

09/01/2015 · Destroy gradually, erode; also, worry one constantly. For example, The sea has been eating away at the outer banks for years, or The fact that he failed the test is eating away at him. [Early 1800s]

eat something away. to erode something; to consume something bit by bit. The acid ate the finish away. It ate away the finish. See also: away, eat. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms …

eat away - wear away or erode. fret. rust, corrode - become destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid; "The metal corroded"; "The pipes rusted". Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc. Translations.

To eat away is to gradually wear away or destroy, the way salt water will slowly eat away at the wooden pilings holding up a dock. Sharply carved granite along a rocky shore is evidence that the sea will eat away at anything that spends enough time with waves crashing on it. In addition to corrosive substances like salt water and acid, an emotion ...

past participle. eaten away at. DEFINITIONS 1. 1. to make someone feel more and more unhappy or worried. You could see that jealousy was eating away at her. Synonyms and related words. Synonyms and related words. Definition and synonyms of eat away at from the online English dictionary from Macmillan Education.

Definition of 'eat away' eat away phrasal verb If one thing eats away another or eats away at another, it gradually destroys or uses it up. Water pours through the roof, encouraging rot to eat away the interior of the house. See full dictionary entry for eat Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

eating away - (geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it) eroding, erosion, wearing, wearing away. geology - a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks. chatter mark - marks on a glaciated rock caused by the movement of a glacier.