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Chak. Posted 15 years ago
Essay & Composition Writing

What does "chip away at" mean?

While reading a passage, i came across a sentence given here- "while US, canada and australia control global wheat market but argentina and EU chip away at their dominance".

So what does chip awayconveying here?Emotion: geeked Anticipating replies.

Regards,

GauravEmotion: smile
  

Top answer

Hi, While reading a passage, i came across a sentence given here- "while US, canada and australia control global wheat market but argentina and EU chip away at their dominance". So what does chip away conveying here? Argentina and the EU slowly try to destroy that dominance, one small piece at a time.

— Clive

  • Hi, While reading a passage, i came across a sentence given here- "while US, canada and australia control global wheat market but argentina and EU chip away at their dominance".
  • So what does chip away conveying here?
  • Argentina and the EU slowly try to destroy that dominance, one small piece at a time.
  • Consider this simpler image.
  • Tom chipped away with a chisel at the huge block of ice, until finally he destroyed it.
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10 Answers
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Hi,

While reading a passage, i came across a sentence given here- "while US, canada and australia control global wheat market but argentina and EU chip awayat their dominance".

So what does chip away conveying here? Argentina and the EU slowly try to destroy that dominance, one small piece at a time.
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remove or withdraw gradually: "These new customs are chipping away at the quality of life"
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CliveHi,

While reading a passage, i came across a sentence given here- "while US, canada and australia control global wheat market but argentina and EU chip awayat their dominance".

So what does chip away conveying here? Argentina and the EU slowly try to destroy that dominance, one small piece at a time.

Consider this simpler image.
Tom chi
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Hi,

Please ignore my previous reply, i messed up with that.
Two comments about your original sentence.
1. It is not correct grammar.
2. It needs more capital letters.

Yes, that was a mistake. Here is the correct version - While the US, Canada and Australia control global wheat market, the EU and Argentina chip away at their dominance".
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Hi again,

"While the US, Canada and Australia control the global wheat market, the EU and Argentina chip away at their dominance".

Clive
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Hi Clive,

Oh, i thought there was no mistake this time, of course i was wrong!

Sorry to bother again but could you check if these are correct-

1. "I have made a goal and i'll chip away at that until i get success"

2. "Our team continuously chipped away unt
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Hi,

Oh, i thought there was no mistake this time, of course i was wrong!

Sorry to bother again but could you check if these are correct-

1. "I have made a goal and i'll chip away at that until i get success"

2. "Our team continuously chipped away until we performe
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Ya i am engrossed with the idea.

Consider this "Our team continuously chipped away(at the opposing team's dominance) until we performed better than them",

but may be it's too encryptic to be clearly understood..
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Hi,

Yes, it's a bit cryptic, although some context would help.

Usually a sentence with 'chipped away' includes an explicit 'at something '.

'Until we won' would be more natural than 'until we performed better than them'.
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It is actually "better than they" because the word "did" is understood (meaning it is the word that would come next in the sentence if you wanted to put it there!).

Also, your period should come before your ending quote mark, 'at something.' The same goes for 'until we performed better than they.'
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