grind down definitions

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: rule a country as a tyrant [syn: tyrannize, tyrannise, grind down]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you say that someone grinds you down, you mean that they treat you very harshly and cruelly, reducing your confidence or your will to resist them. There are people who want to humiliate you and grind you down. PHRASAL VERB: V n P