Bit-by-bit damage "V away at n" construction

Form

NP
Agent
Verb
away
at
NP
Patient

Examples

Agent [Ancient Egyptians]
used to
Verb hack
away away
at at
Patient [their beards]
with bronze knives.
Agent We
can only
Verb chip
away away
at at
Patient attitudes
bit by bit.

Meaning

An Agent makes repeated contact with a Patient and damages it gradually.

Roles

Agent
The person or thing that is acting on the Patient, making repeated contact with it.
Patient
What the Agent's action is directed towards and gets gradually damaged as a result of the Agent's action.

Frames

Inherits from

Sub-constructions

Lexical items ( Verb slot)

Cutting hack Ancient Egyptians used to hack away at their beards with bronze knives. Cause_to_fragment chip Unfortunately, we can only chip away at attitudes bit by bit. Lexical items without a frame: hammer The iron-clad Monitor and Merrimack hammered away at each other in the American Civil War. whittle Putting the Burgess weirdos into more conventional groups whittles away at some of the shale's apparently huge diversity.

Phraseological constructions