eat away
UK /iːt‿əˈweɪ/ · US /it‿əˈweɪ/ verb
Forms eats away eating away ate away eaten away
- verb To physically corrode or erode (something) gradually. “The river bank had been eaten away over the years by the flood water.”
- verb To destroy (something) gradually by an ongoing process.
- verb (specifically) Chiefly followed by at: of a circumstance, incident, etc.: to cause (someone) to feel guilty, troubled, or worried; to bother (see eat away at). “The guilt of having lied was eating away at him.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From eat + away.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “eat away”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details