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Verb: grind away
  1. Work hard on something
    "He ground away at his thesis for months";
    - beaver [informal], beaver away [informal], slave away
     
  2. Work doggedly or persistently
    "She keeps grinding away at her dissertation";
    - plug away, peg away, slog, keep one's nose to the grindstone [informal], keep one's shoulder to the wheel [informal], slave away
     
  3. Study intensively, as before an exam
    "She ground away at her calculus problems all night";
    - cram [informal], bone up [informal], swot [Brit, informal], mug up [Brit, informal], swot up [Brit, informal], bone [informal], revise [Brit]

Derived forms: grinds away, ground away, grinding away

Type of: hit the books [informal], study, work