run someone into the ground—(coll.)
1. win over a person; defeat smb. completely:
- We lost the game today, but tomorrow we’ll run them into the ground.
2. make smb. work continuously very hard so that the person becomes completely exhausted:
- Well-trained horses had been starved to death or run into the ground.
run someone to ground—track down and eventually find a person, especially for arrest or punishment:
- The prisoner was finally run to ground some place in Alabama, hungry and exhausted.