destroy+gradually
11Eating — Eat Eat ([=e]t), v. t. [imp. {Ate} ([=a]t; 277), Obsolescent & Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. p. {Eaten} ([=e]t n), Obs. or Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. pr. & vb. n. {Eating}.] [OE. eten, AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan, G.… …
12To eat humble pie — Eat Eat ([=e]t), v. t. [imp. {Ate} ([=a]t; 277), Obsolescent & Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. p. {Eaten} ([=e]t n), Obs. or Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. pr. & vb. n. {Eating}.] [OE. eten, AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan, G.… …
13To eat of — Eat Eat ([=e]t), v. t. [imp. {Ate} ([=a]t; 277), Obsolescent & Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. p. {Eaten} ([=e]t n), Obs. or Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. pr. & vb. n. {Eating}.] [OE. eten, AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan, G.… …
14To eat one's words — Eat Eat ([=e]t), v. t. [imp. {Ate} ([=a]t; 277), Obsolescent & Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. p. {Eaten} ([=e]t n), Obs. or Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. pr. & vb. n. {Eating}.] [OE. eten, AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan, G.… …
15To eat out — Eat Eat ([=e]t), v. t. [imp. {Ate} ([=a]t; 277), Obsolescent & Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. p. {Eaten} ([=e]t n), Obs. or Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. pr. & vb. n. {Eating}.] [OE. eten, AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan, G.… …
16To eat the wind out of a vessel — Eat Eat ([=e]t), v. t. [imp. {Ate} ([=a]t; 277), Obsolescent & Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. p. {Eaten} ([=e]t n), Obs. or Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. pr. & vb. n. {Eating}.] [OE. eten, AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan, G.… …
17grind — I. verb (ground; grinding) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English grindan; akin to Latin frendere to crush, grind Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to reduce to powder or small fragments by friction (as in a mill or with the… …
18whittle — I. noun Etymology: Middle English whittel, alteration of thwitel, from thwiten to whittle, from Old English thwītan; akin to Old Norse thveita to hew Date: 15th century archaic a large knife II. verb (whittled; whittling) Date: 1552 …
19fritter away — 1. Diminish, pare off, reduce to nothing. 2. Misuse (time), waste, dawdle away, idle away, fool away. 3. Waste bit by bit, destroy gradually, waste by dispersion or by trifling and petty use …
20undermine — /ʌndəˈmaɪn / (say unduh muyn), /ˈʌndəmaɪn / (say unduhmuyn) verb (t) (undermined, undermining) 1. to form a mine or passage under, as in military operations; make an excavation under. 2. to render unstable by digging into or wearing away the… …
