1
general::
Phrase(s): chip something away (from something)
to break off tiny pieces of something. • Many years of heavy use chipped the marble steps away. • Someone chipped away little bits of the marble from that step., Phrase(s): chip away
[for something] to break off or break away in small chips. • The edges of the marble step chipped away over the years. • Some of the stone figures had chipped away so badly that we couldn’t see what they were.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs