wear down

verb

wore down; worn down; wearing down; wears down

transitive verb

: to weary and overcome by persistent resistance or pressure

Examples of wear down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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And in Game 5, just as Indiana appeared to be wearing down the Thunder by trimming an 18-point lead to two, Oklahoma City responded by coercing the Pacers into a three-minute sequence featuring four brutal turnovers that doomed their ' comeback chance. Andrew Greif, NBC news, 18 June 2025 These patterns could indicate that a piece of equipment is starting to wear down or might fail soon. Jay R. Young, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025 This absolutely fails to recognise what PSG were actively doing (controlling the ball and the game and deliberately using the pitch to wear down Athletico). Jack Lang, New York Times, 16 June 2025 As the film rolls on, Williams plays the idealized Rosemary as worn down and ultimately exhausted at having to parry an inappropriate Max and depressed Herman. Joe Reid, Vulture, 12 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for wear down

Word History

First Known Use

1774, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of wear down was in 1774

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Cite this Entry

“Wear down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wear%20down. Accessed 27 Jun. 2025.

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