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

The inside-out tandem of point guard Kiki Rice and 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts — two of six UCLA seniors who played in the Final Four last season — eventually wore down a Minnesota defense that exhausted its hustle capital in the first half. —John Shipley, Twin Cities, 28 Mar. 2026

During the most intense barrages, the Russians fired tens of thousands of rounds a day, wearing down Ukraine’s defensive lines and clearing the way for Russian infantry. —Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 27 Mar. 2026

That could pay off in the second half, when some of the club’s outfielders have worn down in the past. —Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 26 Mar. 2026

Bakri conveys that immense burden in dribbles of emotion, like a trickle of water wearing down a groove in a rock wall. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 Mar. 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