hammering away
Beating without pause
Hammering away means working persistently at something, often with sustained effort or repetition.
The image is of a hammer striking repeatedly until the job is done.
You can hammer away at a problem, a piece of writing, or an opponent's defenses: She's been hammering away at her dissertation for months.
The phrase suggests determined, ongoing effort rather than quick resolution.
- reiteratingStating something anew
- hitting homeAffecting someone deeply
- malletSoft-headed striking tool
- poundingForceful repeated striking
- stressingEmphasizing or feeling anxious
driving home · dedication · forging · chiseling · grit · focus · perseverance · striking · repeating · banging on · emphasizing · industriousness · drilling · insisting · tenacity · nose to the grindstone · sculpting · smashing
- brute forcetrial and error, dictionary attack, credential stuffing, iteration, enumeration
- persistingpersisting, persevering, persistence, perseverance, continuing
hammering awaygiving up
Choosing to stop trying
quitting · abandoning · surrendering · throwing in the towel · capitulating
hammering awayidling
Operating without working
coasting · going through the motions · taking it easy · phoning it in · resting