strain away

strain away (at something)

to work very hard, continuously, at doing something. She strained away at her weights, getting stronger every day. She was straining away on the rowing machine when we came in.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Birgitta	bir-YIT-tah (Swedish), bir-GIT-tah (Swedish), BEER-geet-tah (Finnish)	Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish
Xoel	-	Galician
Adrasteia	-	Greek Mythology
Antica	-	Croatian
Meraud	-	Cornish
Keren-Happuch	KER-ən HAP-ook (English)	Biblical