drive (oneself) into the ground
To work oneself to the point of illness or exhaustion. If you keep working 80-hour weeks, you'll drive yourself into the ground sooner than later. I drove myself into the ground pulling all-nighters in graduate school. There's just no other way to keep up with all the reading! You need to take a vacation from this place before you drive yourself into the ground.
drive (something) into the ground
1. To manage or maintain something very poorly, resulting in its destruction, failure, or loss of functionality. If you would just remember to get your oil changed, you wouldn't keep driving your cars into the ground. This is the fourth time he's walked away from a company he helped drive into the ground. How could they put that imbecile Tony in charge? He's going to run this department straight into the ground!
2. To continue to discuss or address some issue or topic that is no longer of any use or relevance; to belabor something. We've all moved on from that problem, so there's no use driving it into the ground. It was enough for him to chide me for the mistake once, but he drove it into the ground again and again over the next few weeks. I'm sorry if I'm driving this issue into the ground, but I just can't let her negligence go.
run (oneself or something) into the ground
1. To work oneself to the point of illness or exhaustion. If you keep working 80-hour weeks, you'll run yourself into the ground sooner than later.
2. To overuse or poorly maintain something, resulting in its destruction or loss of functionality. If you would just remember to get your oil changed, you wouldn't keep running your cars into the ground.
3. To continue to discuss or address something—especially an issue or topic—that is no longer of any use or relevance. We've all moved on from that problem, so there's no use running it into the ground.
work (oneself) into the ground
To work oneself to the point of illness or exhaustion. If you keep working 80-hour weeks, you'll work yourself into the ground sooner than later.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
run yourself into the ground
INFORMAL1. If you run yourself into the ground, you work so hard at something that you become exhausted. While everyone else is running themselves into the ground for the whole month of December, she and I are relaxing at home.
2. If you run yourself into the ground, you run around a lot, especially while playing a game. Liverpool's young players in particular ran themselves into the ground.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012