eats away at

Apple's continued glory eats away at me like a maggot at my core.

You can last weeks as the body literally eats away at its own reserves of fat and muscle.

In traditional languages, this recursion eats away at the stack to maintain a history of the calls; in Scheme, it's different.

Even in countries that have registered impressive gains, inequality eats away at social cohesion.

But when we hold fast to a grudge it eats away at our sense of peace and serenity.

Acid rain, meanwhile, reduces agricultural yields and eats away at buildings and infrastructure.

The result is inflation, which eats away at the value of money.

Empathy is the natural enemy of egocentricity, a disease that eats away at our society.

Her guilt eats away at her inner, mental space.

Lichen eats away at granite and over time can cause cracks and pockmarks.

It hangs over a binational marriage like a sword; it eats away at you like a cancer; it terrifies and enrages and demoralizes.

Temptation eats away at your restraint.

This "eats away" at our soul!

The irony is that population growth itself eats away at the development potential.

And, God, I know the fear that eats away at your bones.

Eats away at this heart of mine