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

Restorers address common signs of wear and tear, such as drawer runners worn down by nearly two centimeters and drawer backs reduced to half their original thickness by decades of knives repeatedly striking the wood. — Tara Anne Dalbow, Architectural Digest, 21 Oct. 2026

Why hair oil matters for breakage and repair For strands worn down by heat tools, color or everyday wear, the pitch shifts from styling to repair. — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2026

Actress Christina Applegate has publicly dealt with Multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic autoimmune disease that wears down and damages the protective nerve coverings in the spinal cord and brain, for five years. — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 21 Oct. 2026

Russia's heavy bombardment of the power grid ahead of winter has been an annual feature of the war, aimed at wearing down Ukraine's appetite for the fight by denying civilians heat and running water. — Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1774, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for wear down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown