slaving away
Grinding without rest
Slaving away describes working extremely hard at tedious or exhausting labor, often for long hours with little reward or recognition.
The phrase emphasizes both the intensity and the drudgery of the effort: She's been slaving away in the kitchen all day, He spent years slaving away at a thankless job.
The continuous form suggests sustained, grinding effort rather than a single burst of work.
- drudgeryHard, boring work
- strainingExerting intense effort
- toilStrenuous, prolonged effort
- nose to the grindstoneDevoted to hard work
- laborStrenuous effort; also childbirth
backbreaking · blood sweat and tears · grunt · dirty work · grinding · drone · domestic chores · misery · sweating · endeavoring · drudging · exerting · long hours · working overtime · burning the midnight oil · nine to five · rat race · startup culture
slaving awayrelaxing
Becoming less tense
lounging · resting · taking it easy · kicking back · chilling
slaving awayhaving fun
Experiencing pleasure actively
enjoying oneself · living it up · playing · frolicking · basking
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