Word Study
wear down
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Verb wear down has 2 senses
- wear down(v = verb.body) fag, fag out, fatigue, jade, outwear, tire, tire out, wear, wear out, wear upon, weary - exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress; "We wore ourselves out on this hike" is one way to indispose
- wear down(v = verb.change) wear, wear off, wear out, wear thin - deteriorate through use or stress; "The constant friction wore out the cloth" is one way to deteriorate
Sample sentence:
Sam cannot wear down Sue
Sample sentences:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
THESAURUS
wear down
ablate, abrade, affect, argue into, beat, bend, bias, bring over, bring round, bring to reason, burn out, captivate, charm, color, con, convince, debilitate, dispose, do in, do up, drain, draw over, enervate, erode, exhaust, fag, fag out, fatigue, flag, fray, frazzle, fret, gain, gain over, harass, hook, hook in, incline, induce, influence, jade, knock out, knock up, lead, move, outtalk, overfatigue, overstrain, overtire, overweary, persuade, poop, poop out, predispose, prevail on, prevail upon, prevail with, prompt, prostrate, rub off, sell, sell one on, soften up, sway, talk into, talk over, tatter, tinge, tire, tire out, tire to death, tone, tucker, use up, wangle, wangle into, weaken, wear, wear away, wear off, wear on, wear out, wear ragged, weary, weather, weigh with, wilt, win, win over, wind, workROGET THESAURUS
wear down
Contraction
VB become small, become smaller, lessen, decrease, grow less, dwindle, shrink, contract, narrow, shrivel, collapse, wither, lose flesh, wizen, fall away, waste, wane, ebb, decay, be smaller than, fall short of, not come up to, render smaller, lessen, diminish, contract, draw in, narrow, coarctate, boil down, constrict, constringe, condense, compress, squeeze, corrugate, crimp, crunch, crush, crumple up, warp, purse up, pack, squeeze, stow, pinch, tighten, strangle, cramp, dwarf, bedwarf, shorten, circumscribe, restrain, (subtraction) 38 abrade, pare, reduce, attenuate, rub down, scrape, file, file down, grind, grind down, chip, shave, shear, wear down.Friction
VB rub, scratch, scrape, scrub, slide, fray, rasp, graze, curry, scour, polish, rub out, wear down, gnaw, file, grind, set one's teeth on edge, rosin.
For further exploring for "wear down" in Webster Dictionary Online