hammer away at

Keep at something continuously, as in The reporters hammered away at the candidate. This phrase employs hammer in the sense of "beat repeatedly," a usage dating from the mid-1600s.

See also: away, hammer

References in classic literature ?

As not one of the natives had soul enough in him to stand up like a man, and allow me to hammer away at him, for my own personal gratification and that of the king, I was necessitated to fight with an imaginary enemy, whom I invariably made to knock under to my superior prowess.

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The controls are fairly standard but nice and responsive and it's a blast to hammer away at the scumbags on the streets.

One man and his dog take on world

If you tried to hammer away at one facet of a side's play, whoever you were up against, you would probably fall flat on your face.

Rugby Union: Versatile May told to repeat the trick; in association with jolly Fitness Tom back in for Clegg at fly-half

Tracing a line back to the legendary Daley Thompson's Decathlon, Athens 2004 sees you hammer away at joypad buttons while timing take-offs and so on.

Shiraz: Game ZONE

They also would like to establish the run early and hammer away at Compton.

COC PREVIEW: COC THINKS BACK TO THAT HIT

This is the question I ponder as I hammer away at my joypad in order to make my cyclist go faster than the others.

WEEKEND: BYTE SIZE: One-button action just brings on the yawning; Review

Since taking office, he has used every weapon at his disposal to hammer away at the church-state wall.

Lack of judgment: Bill Pryor and the federal appeals court. (Editorials)

As we all know, stress can also become chronic when the everyday battles you fight at work, on the road, and at home hammer away at your peace of mind.

Injured? Just relax!

The fighters hammer away at each other, and the losers can get hurt.

Should the computer king be dethroned? A court ruling could change the way Bill Gates does business. (business)

Hence, presidential hopefuls Pat Buchanan and Bill Bradley continue to hammer away at themes such as corporate downsizing and the export of "good-paying" jobs overseas.

Boom and Gloom

Scientists have continued to hammer away at the so-called Philadelphia chromosome, a shortened chromosome 22.

New Drug Thwarts a Chronic Leukemia

Women earn a greater percentage compared to men in contemporary society than at the height of the explosion of feminism at the end of the sixties, but the religious right continues to hammer away at reproductive rights and so-called family values to have women behave as if they and we were living in the fifties.

Hell, No, We Won't Grow!

Microsoft Corp continued to hammer away at the browser issue in the antitrust case in Washington yesterday.

MICROSOFT, NETSCAPE, AOL AND THE BROWSER BATTLE

Still watched the Bees hammer away at the visitor's goal and declared: "If we play with the same spirit and drive that we showed today, we're still in with a good chance.

Still in there fighting; Barnet 1 Scarboro 1

It can hammer away at the reserves of snobbery that keep its readers from devoting their time and attention to the political fortunes of neoliberalism.