wear down

wear  (wâr)

v. wore (wôr, wr), worn (wôrn, wrn), wear·ing, wears

v.tr.

1. To carry or have on the person as covering, adornment, or protection: wearing a jacket; must wear a seat belt.

2. To carry or have habitually on the 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.

1. The act of wearing or the state of being worn; use: The coat has had heavy wear.

2. Clothing, especially of a particular kind or for a particular use. Often used in combination: rainwear; footwear.

3. Gradual impairment or diminution resulting from use or attrition.

4. The ability to withstand impairment from use or attrition: The engine has plenty of wear left.

Phrasal Verbs:

wear down

To break down or exhaust by relentless pressure or resistance.

wear off

To diminish gradually in effect: The drug wore off.

wear out

1. To make or become unusable through long or heavy use.

2. To use up or consume gradually.

3. To exhaust; tire.

4. Chiefly Southern U.S. To punish by spanking.

Idioms:

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.

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[Middle English weren, from Old English werian; see wes-² in Indo-European roots.]

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wearer n.

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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

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	wear down - exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress; "We wore ourselves out on this hike" fag out, tire out, wear out, wear upon, weary, fatigue, jade, outwear, tire, fag, wear 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" overfatigue, overtire, overweary - tire excessively
	2.	wear down - deteriorate through use or stress; "The constant friction wore out the cloth" wear off, wear thin, wear out, wear 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"

Translations

? 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