grind sb down
— phrasal verb with grind uk/ɡraɪnd/us/ɡraɪnd/verb [ T ] ground, ground
to treat someone so badly for such a long time that they are no longer able to fight back:
Ground down by years of abuse, she did not have the confidence to leave him.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Treating people or animals badly
- a raw deal idiom
- at the hands of sb idiom
- batten
- batten on sb
- be heavy on sb idiom
- bleed
- grind
- jerk sb around
- knife
- knock
- knock sb around
- lay a finger on sb idiom
- put sb through sth
- shit on sb
- shortchange
- shove
- shove sb around
- smite
- torment
- walk all over sb idiom
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