run into the ground

1. 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]

2. Pursue a topic until it has been thoroughly discussed or exhausted, as in They've run the abortion issue into the ground .

Example Sentences

It’s a winning start, and likely means that the only company being run into the ground is the fictional one at the heart of the Ladder.

From Los Angeles Times

But as the Framers could have warned you, a nation that was dreamed up chiefly by lawyers was almost overdetermined to be run into the ground by them one day.

From Slate

I wanted to quit the show before it got really bad and run into the ground.

From New York Times

Cuomo told listeners that “now more than ever before, I’m talking to you as me… these words are only my own. Nobody is telling me to stay on a story even if it has been run into the ground.”

From Seattle Times

A sure sign that a comic strip has run out of creative or even mildly amusing observations is its return to a recurring theme that other cartoon artists have run into the ground.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• exaggerate
• overestimate
• overplay
• overrate
• overreach
• overstate
• overuse
• overvalue