English

Verb

chip away

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To reduce or weaken bit by bit.
   • 1991, Jan Gorak, The Making of the Modern Canon: Genesis and Crisis of a Literary Idea, page 24

     Iraneus contrasts the unity and integrity of these writings with the distorted, contextless citations of the Gnostics. He describes the code of textual harassment that allows these heretics to chip away at the Scriptures, […].

See also

• salami tactics