at·tri·tion

(ə-trĭsh′ən)

1. A rubbing away or wearing down by friction.

a. A gradual reduction in number or strength because of stress or military action.

b. A gradual reduction in personnel or membership because of resignation, retirement, or death, often viewed in contrast to reduction from layoffs.

3. Roman Catholic Church Repentance for sin motivated by fear of punishment rather than by love of God.

[Middle English attricioun, regret, breaking, from Old French attrition, abrasion, from Late Latin attrītiō, attrītiōn-, act of rubbing against, from Latin attrītus, past participle of atterere, to rub against : ad-, against; see ad- + terere, to rub; see terə- in Indo-European roots.]

at·tri′tion·al adj.

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.

attrition

(əˈtrɪʃən)

1. the act of wearing away or the state of being worn away, as by friction

2. constant wearing down to weaken or destroy (often in the phrase war of attrition)

3. (Industrial Relations & HR Terms) Also called: natural wastage a decrease in the size of the workforce of an organization achieved by not replacing employees who retire or resign

4. (Physical Geography) geography the grinding down of rock particles by friction during transportation by water, wind, or ice. Compare abrasion³, corrasion

5. (Theology) theol sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation, esp as contrasted with contrition, which arises purely from love of God

[C14: from Late Latin attrītiō a rubbing against something, from Latin atterere to weaken, from terere to rub]

atˈtritional adj

attritive adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

at•tri•tion

(əˈtrɪʃ ən)

n.

1. a reduction or decrease in numbers, size, or strength.

2. a wearing down or weakening of resistance, esp. as a result of continuous pressure or harassment: a war of attrition.

3. a gradual reduction in work force as when workers retire and are not replaced.

4. the act of rubbing against something; friction.

5. a wearing down or away by friction; abrasion.

[1325–75; Middle English < Latin attrītiō friction]

at•tri′tion•al, adj.

at•tri′tive (əˈtraɪ tɪv) adj.

attrition

The reduction of the effectiveness of a force caused by loss of personnel and materiel.

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	attrition - erosion by friction corrasion, detrition, abrasion eating away, eroding, erosion, wearing, wearing away - (geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)
	2.	attrition - the wearing down of rock particles by friction due to water or wind or ice detrition, grinding, abrasion rubbing, friction - the resistance encountered when one body is moved in contact with another
	3.	attrition - sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation contriteness, contrition regret, ruefulness, sorrow, rue - sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment; "he drank to drown his sorrows"; "he wrote a note expressing his regret"; "to his rue, the error cost him the game"
	4.	attrition - a wearing down to weaken or destroy; "a war of attrition" decrease, lessening, drop-off - a change downward; "there was a decrease in his temperature as the fever subsided"; "there was a sharp drop-off in sales"
	5.	attrition - the act of rubbing together; wearing something down by friction detrition, friction, rubbing - effort expended in moving one object over another with pressure

attrition

noun wearing down, harrying, weakening, harassment, thinning out, attenuation, debilitation a war of attrition against the government

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

attrition

noun

Theology. A feeling of regret for one's sins or misdeeds:

compunction, contriteness, contrition, penitence, penitency, remorse, remorsefulness, repentance, rue.

Translations

atrición

attrito attrizione guerra di logoramento snervamento

attrition

[əˈtrɪʃən] N

1. (= wearing away) → desgaste m
war of attrition → guerra f de desgaste

2. (Ind, Univ) → amortización f de puestos

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

attrition

[əˈtrɪʃ^ən] n
war of attrition → guerre f d'usure

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

attrition

n (lit, form) → Abrieb m, → Zerreibung f; (fig) → Zermürbung f; (Rel) → unvollkommene Reue, Attrition f (spec); war of attrition (Mil) → Zermürbungskrieg m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

attrition

[əˈtrɪʃ/ən] n → usura (per attrito)
war of attrition → guerra di logoramento

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

But the incidents of his adventure grew sensibly sharper and clearer under the attrition of thinking them over, and so he presently found himself leaning to the impression that the thing might not have been a dream, after all.

View in context

Down the sides of every great rib of pure ice poured limpid rills in gutters carved by their own attrition; better still, wherever a rock had lain, there was now a bowl-shaped hole, with smooth white sides and bottom of ice, and this bowl was brimming with water of such absolute clearness that the careless observer would not see it at all, but would think the bowl was empty.

View in context

But as much movement was necessary to ascend such a great height, some of the clay would become attached to its rough skin by attrition. The downway must have been easy work, but the ascent was different, and when the monster came to view in the upper world, it would be fresh from contact with the white clay.

View in context

This may be a war of attrition, or even now the unexpected may come, but to all effects and purposes Germany is beaten."

View in context

On the other hand, I do not believe that any line of coast, ten or twenty miles in length, ever suffers degradation at the same time along its whole indented length; and we must remember that almost all strata contain harder layers or nodules, which from long resisting attrition form a breakwater at the base.

View in context

John's river, some quartz crystals with their edges blunted from attrition, and mixed with gravel on the sea-beach.

View in context

Referring to the 2012/13 cohort, Holloway said 10 per cent attrition across the three groups meant 90 per cent had remained in nursing.

Nurses leaving--should we be worried? Nursing Council research reveals the attrition rates for nurses who registered eight years ago and those who registered two years ago

Global Banking News-February 20, 2015--Indian central bank cautions banks regarding high attrition rate

Indian central bank cautions banks regarding high attrition rate

AIM The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between English as a second language (ESL), a reading comprehension program, and attrition rates of nursing students.

A correlational study of a reading comprehension program and attrition rates of ESL nursing students in Texas

Patient attrition from the HIV antiretroviral therapy program at two hospitals in Haiti

Abandono del programa de tratamiento antirretrovirico de la infeccion por el VIH en pacientes de dos hospitales de Haiti

Skeptics have asked whether attrition of students from KIPP schools may explain their apparent success and thereby raised doubts about the prospects for replicating that success at scale.

Does student attrition explain KIPP's success?