1

I came across this sentence on ODO: (from the entry in the main)

‘It was a victory etched out in the main through a team effort and a very fine one at that.’

I can't seem to find "etch out" defined anywhere as a phrasal verb. Can a victory be "etched out"?

Improve this question
2
  • 3
    It's not an expression I've heard as it is used there, "to accomplish something with assiduous effort", but it does seem analogous to carve out which is also used in a similar way. The settlers carved out a life for themselves in the unforgiving climate.
    – TimR
    Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 19:05
  • 1
    I would have expected eked out there, assuming it was a hard-fought struggle for the entire team, won by a narrow margin. ("to get with great effort", according to m-w.com.)
    – Hellion
    Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 19:46

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

They are indicating that it was a victory that was only won through Hard work that if the team didn't work as hard as they did it may not have turned out so well. Imagine sculpting a sculpture as the goal, the team had to etch out their victory to be successful.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .