WEAR DOWN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wear down mean? 

• WEAR DOWN (verb)
  The verb WEAR DOWN has 2 senses:

1. exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress

2. deteriorate through use or stress

  Familiarity information: WEAR DOWN used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WEAR DOWN (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

fag; fag out; fatigue; jade; outwear; tire; tire out; wear; wear down; wear out; wear upon; weary

Context example:

We wore ourselves out on this hike

Hypernyms (to "wear down" is one way to...):

indispose (cause to feel unwell)

Cause:

fatigue; jade; pall; tire; weary (lose interest or become bored with something or somebody)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wear down"):

beat; exhaust; tucker; tucker out; wash up (wear out completely)

overfatigue; overtire; overweary (tire excessively)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot wear down Sue

Sense 2

Meaning:

Deteriorate through use or stress

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

wear; wear down; wear off; wear out; wear thin

Context example:

The constant friction wore out the cloth

Hypernyms (to "wear down" is one way to...):

deteriorate (become worse or disintegrate)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wear down"):

ablate (wear away through erosion or vaporization)

scuff (get or become scuffed)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something