tug away

tug away

1. To tow someone or something away with a tugboat. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "tug" and "away." The coastguard ordered for the abandoned freighter to be tugged away. Our propeller got tangled in the vegetation of the marsh, so we had to radio in for someone to come tug us away.
2. To pull or yank (on someone or something) vigorously or repeatedly, especially when doing so has little or no effect. I tugged away at the man's arm, but he wouldn't budge. I've been tugging away for nearly 20 minutes, but it doesn't seem like this thing has moved more than an inch!
See also: away, tug
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

tug away (at something)

to pull hard at something; to haul something. She tugged away at the rope, but the anchor would not budge. No matter how much she tugged away, it didn't move.
See also: away, tug
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • bring away
  • blaze away
  • blaze away at (someone or something)
  • bury away
  • boring
  • borne
  • bear away
  • chew away
  • chuck away
  • cut away
References in periodicals archive
Cut where you can reach - just above a pair of buds - and tug away the cut piece of vine.
YOU ASK; IN THE GARDEN
My food menu was gnarled and had seen better days while the wine list - littered with large white stickers - was only a delicate tug away from separating into two separate pieces, such was its state of disrepair.
'A frustrating meal for several reasons' Ciaran Jones loved the location of the latest restaurant in the Juboraj chain. Shame he can't say that about the food..
But theorists thought that passing stars in such a cluster would tug away the solar system's outer planets.
Two astronomers
With our boy Dylan now four, and kids' clubs now seen as a positive treat rather than a tear-jerking tug away from mummy, this was the perfect opportunity for him to have fun and for us to get fit and sporty.
KOS YOU CAN; Want to learn to sail? Try windsurfing? Have a kids' club, beaches AND grownup time..?
My fingers wandered mindlessly up to my throat as if to tug away a constricting shirt collar.
Fresh Meat
She lies there, not flinching in the least as the little ones with their sharp teeth tug away at her teats.
The golden rule is always the same - register the best and eat the rest; Animals can be full of surprises, as our smallholder columnist has been finding out
Months pass but her memory does not return: "Every time she tried to tug away a corner of the blackness she found nothing but mist." When the killer finally reveals himself hiding in plain sight it is a shock.
Abomination