eat away at

به تدریج نابود کردن ازبین بردن، ذره ذره نابود کردن

these two chemicals gradually ate away at the atmosphere and poisoned millions of people's health for 50 years until their true impact was finally identified.

به نقل از لانگمن:
1 to gradually remove or reduce the amount of something
مثال:
. His gambling was eating away at their income

2 to make someone feel very worried over a long period of time
مثال:
. The thought of mother alone like that was eating away at her

1 - به تدریج فرسودن چیزی
2 - در طی زمان نگران کردن کسی