Wiktionary
vb. (context idiomatic intransitive English) To reduce or weaken bit by bit.
WordNet
v. remove or withdraw gradually: "These new customs are chipping away at the quality of life" [syn: chip away at]
Usage examples of "chip away".
One crew of their elders used hand axes to chip away at the rock beneath the statue.
Han tried to snatch the chip away, but Grees was too quick for him.
As she continued to chip away, Jondalar could see she was shaping the stone as she removed the chalky coating.
This time he had to restrain himself from reaching up and peeling the chip away.
The wielder of the Wu-Shing and those who would try to wrest the secret of the T-PRAM chip away from you.
He could chip away at that compartment of water ice and not die of thirst, but he couldn’.
From the door combo which sometimes required the oncoming watch to chip away the ice to find the numbers, to battling the cold drafts and sometime snow flurries which found their way under the shack and up through various holes in the deck [floor], people manned their post through all adversity.
He could chip away at that compartment of water ice and not die of thirst, but he couldn't convert it and take a shower.