plug away
Work without stopping
To plug away is to work steadily and persistently at something, often without dramatic progress: She's been plugging away at her dissertation for three years.
The phrase suggests dogged effort rather than inspired bursts—grinding through a task that requires endurance more than brilliance.
- soldier onContinue despite difficulty
- keep at itContinue trying steadily
- slogLaborious persistent effort
- drudgeOne doing hard, dull labor
- nose to the grindstoneDevoted to hard work
hang in · stick with it · grind · persist · keep on · keep going · labor · apply oneself · put in the work · perseverance · toil · press on · sweat · work · work hard · endeavor · plod · dig in
- laborlabor, labor union, work, labor force, laborers
- advanceadvance, move forward, press forward, push forward, proceed
- frugalityfrugality, thrift, frugal, penny-pinching, economize