wear out

verb

wore out; worn out; wearing out; wears out

transitive verb

1

: tire, exhaust

2

: to make useless especially by long or hard usage

3

: erase, efface

4

: to endure through : outlast

wear out a storm

5

: to consume (time) tediously

wear out idle days

intransitive verb

: to become useless from long or excessive wear or use

Synonyms of wear out

• wear
• kill
• tire
• exhaust
• drain
• burn out

Examples of wear out in a Sentence

keeping up with twin toddlers wears me out

Recent Examples on the Web

Several of the houses have a special person on staff just for the barrels, a cooper who manufactures and replaces the slats that have worn out. — Kyle Lucia Wu, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 July 2026

Relaxed pants like this pair are perfect for a long bus tour through the countryside or for wearing out to dinner—they’ll look polished without feeling uncomfortable. — Erin Cavoto, Travel + Leisure, 17 July 2026

Anything less can sag or wear out, and anything higher will act as a compression suit that can be a bit intense for casual wear. — Alexandra Malmed, InStyle, 16 July 2026

Following the Apollo 15 mission in 1971, Command Module Pilot Al Worden had worn out his flight jacket. — Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 16 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for wear out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout

Kids Definition

wear out

verb

1

: to tire gradually

worn out from exercising

2

: to make or become useless by wear