1
general::
1. Pursue a topic until it has been thoroughly discussed or exhausted, as in They've run the abortion issue into the ground. 2. Ruin or destroy, as in During her brief time as chief executive Marjorie just about ran the company into the ground. Both usages allude to pushing something so far that it is, in effect, buried. [Early 1800s]
American Heritage Idioms
2
general::
Phrase(s): run something into the ground [and] drive something into the ground
1. Lit. to pound or force something into the ground. • Use a heavy mallet to drive the stakes into the ground. • Run this post into the ground and nail this sign to it. 2. Fig. to carry something too far. • It was a good joke at first, Tom, but you’ve run it into the ground. • Just because everyone laughed once, you don’t have to drive it into the ground.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs