fritter away

Idioms and Phrases

Squander or waste little by little; wear down gradually. For example, She frittered away her salary on odds and ends and saved nothing . This expression was first recorded in Alexander Pope's Dunciad (1728): “How prologues into prefaces decay, And these to notes are fritter'd quite away.”

Example Sentences

Instead, the Mississippi Department of Human Services allowed well-connected people to fritter away $77 million in federal welfare funds from 2016 to 2019, according to the state auditor and state and federal prosecutors.

From Washington Times

Instead, the Mississippi Department of Human Services allowed well-connected people to fritter away $77 million in federal welfare funds from 2016 to 2019, according to the state auditor and state and federal prosecutors.

From Seattle Times

Instead, the Mississippi Department of Human Services allowed well-connected people to fritter away tens of millions of welfare dollars from 2016 to 2019, according to the state auditor and state and federal prosecutors.

From Washington Times

Instead, the Mississippi Department of Human Services allowed well-connected people to fritter away tens of millions of welfare dollars from 2016 to 2019, according to the state auditor and state and federal prosecutors.

From Seattle Times

How dare these children, with their small, nimble fingers, fritter away even a moment that they could be spending sweeping a chimney or, perhaps, working in a coal mine?

From Washington Post