wear down
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wear
(wâr)v. wore (wôr), worn (wôrn), wear·ing, wears
v.tr.
1. To carry or have on one's person as covering, adornment, or protection: wearing a jacket; must wear a seat belt.
2. To carry or have habitually on one's person, especially as an aid: wears glasses.
3. To display in one's appearance: always wears a smile.
4. To bear, carry, or maintain in a particular manner: wears her hair long.
5. To fly or display (colors). Used of a ship, jockey, or knight.
6. To damage, diminish, erode, or consume by long or hard use, attrition, or exposure. Often used with away, down, or off: rocks worn away by the sea; shoes worn down at the heels.
7. To produce by constant use, attrition, or exposure: eventually wore hollows in the stone steps.
8. To bring to a specified condition by long use or attrition: wore the clothes to rags; pebbles worn smooth.
9. To fatigue, weary, or exhaust: Your incessant criticism has worn my patience.
10. Nautical To make (a sailing ship) come about with the wind aft.
v.intr.
1.
a. To last under continual or hard use: a fabric that will wear.
b. To last through the passage of time: a friendship that wears well.
2. To break down or diminish through use or attrition: The rear tires began to wear.
3. To pass gradually or tediously: The hours wore on.
4. Nautical To come about with stern to windward.
n.
Phrasal Verbs: 1. The act of wearing or the state of being worn; use: This shirt is ideal for wear in sultry climates.
2. Clothing, especially of a particular kind or for a particular use. Often used in combination: rainwear; footwear.
3. Damage resulting from use or age: The rug shows plenty of wear.
4. The ability to withstand impairment from use or attrition: The engine has plenty of wear left.
wear down
To break down or exhaust by relentless pressure or resistance: The child's pleading finally wore her parents down.
wear off
To diminish gradually in effect: The drug wore off.
wear out
Idioms: 1. To make or become unusable through long or heavy use: wore out a pair of hockey skates; a vacuum that finally wore out.
2. To exhaust; tire: Raking the leaves wore me out.
3. To use up or consume gradually: His complaining finally wore out my patience.
wear the pants/trousers Informal
To exercise controlling authority in a household.
wear thin
1. To be weakened or eroded gradually: Her patience is wearing thin.
2. To become less convincing, acceptable, or popular, as through repeated use: excuses that are wearing thin.
wear′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
wear down
vb (adverb)
1. to consume or be consumed by long or constant wearing, rubbing, etc
2. to overcome or be overcome gradually by persistent effort
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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| Verb | 1. |  wear down - exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress; "We wore ourselves out on this hike"indispose - cause to feel unwell; "She was indisposed" exhaust, tucker, tucker out, wash up, beat - wear out completely; "This kind of work exhausts me"; "I'm beat"; "He was all washed up after the exam" |
| 2. |  wear down - deteriorate through use or stress; "The constant friction wore out the cloth"deteriorate - become worse or disintegrate; "His mind deteriorated" ablate - wear away through erosion or vaporization scuff - get or become scuffed; "These patent leather shoes scuffed" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
wear
verb1. To consume gradually, as by chemical reaction or friction:
wear awayphrasal verb
wear downphrasal verb
wear out
1. To make extremely tired:
Idioms: run ragged, take it out of.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
w>wear down
vt sep
(= reduce by friction) → abnutzen; heel → ablaufen, abtreten; tyre tread → abfahren; lipstick → verbrauchen; pencil → verschreiben
(fig) opposition, strength etc → zermürben; person (= make more amenable) → mürbe- or weichmachen (inf); (= tire out, depress) → fix und fertig machen (inf)
vi → sich abnutzen; (heels) → sich ablaufen or abtreten; (tyre tread) → sich abfahren; (lipstick etc) → sich verbrauchen; (pencil) → sich verschreiben
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007