wearing (away)

verb

Definition of wearing (away)next
present participle of wear (away)
as in washing out

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wearing (away)
  1. washing out
  2. eroding
Verb
  • What concealer lips and anti-blush actually look like Concealer lips is the technique of washing out your natural lip color for a pale, neutral mouth.
    — Ashley Lynch, Charlotte Observer, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Late Sunday, 15 waterways across northern Arizona and southwestern Colorado either reached or were forecast to reach major flood stage, triggering evacuations and washing out roads.
    — Washington Post, Washington Post, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of washing out
Verb
  • With first-party fraud and friendly disputes eroding already thin retail margins, managing chargebacks requires far more than basic operational recovery.
    — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Humboldt County officials have long debated what to do about Centerville Road, a narrow, twisting byway that leads to an eroding rural beach and a handful of homes.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of eroding
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

wearing
wearing (away)
wearing down
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wearing (away).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wearing%20%28away%29. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of cockamamie

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All