WEAR definition | Dictionary.com

wear

[wair]

verb, wore, worn, wear⋅ing, noun

–verb (used with object)

1.	to carry or have on the body or about the person as a covering, equipment, ornament, or the like: to wear a coat; to wear a saber; to wear a disguise.

2.	to have or use on the person habitually: to wear a wig.

3.	to bear or have in one's aspect or appearance: to wear a smile; to wear an air of triumph.

4.	to cause (garments, linens, etc.) to deteriorate or change by wear: Hard use has worn these gloves.

5.	to impair, deteriorate, or consume gradually by use or any continued process: Long illness had worn the bloom from her cheeks.

6.	to waste or diminish gradually by rubbing, scraping, washing, etc.: The waves have worn these rocks.

7.	to make (a hole, channel, way, etc.) by such action.

8.	to bring about or cause a specified condition in (a person or thing) by use, deterioration, or gradual change: to wear clothes to rags; to wear a person to a shadow.

9.	to weary; fatigue; exhaust: Toil and care soon wear the spirit.

10.	to pass (time) gradually or tediously (usually fol. by away or out): We wore the afternoon away in arguing.

11.	Nautical. to bring (a vessel) on another tack by turning until the wind is on the stern.

12.	British Dialect. to gather and herd (sheep or cattle) to a pen or pasture.

–verb (used without object)

13.	to undergo gradual impairment, diminution, reduction, etc., from wear, use, attrition, or other causes (often fol. by away, down, out, or off).

14.	to retain shape, color, usefulness, value, etc., under wear, use, or any continued strain: a strong material that will wear; colors that wear well.

15.	(of time) to pass, esp. slowly or tediously (often fol. by on or away): As the day wore on, we had less and less to talk about.

16.	to have the quality of being easy or difficult to tolerate, esp. after a relatively long association: It's hard to get to know him, but he wears well.

17.	Nautical. (of a vessel) to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind.

18.	Obsolete. to be commonly worn; to be in fashion.

–noun

19.	the act of wearing; use, as of a garment: articles for winter wear; I've had a lot of wear out of this coat.

20.	the state of being worn, as on the person.

21.	clothing or other articles for wearing, esp. when fashionable or appropriate for a particular function (often used in combination): travel wear; sportswear.

22.	gradual impairment, wasting, diminution, etc., as from use: The carpet shows wear.

23.	the quality of resisting deterioration with use; durability.

—Verb phrases

24.

wear down,

a.	to reduce or impair by long wearing: to wear down the heels of one's shoes.

b.	to weary; tire: His constant talking wears me down.

c.	to prevail by persistence; overcome: to wear down the opposition.

25.	wear off, to diminish slowly or gradually or to diminish in effect; disappear: The drug began to wear off.

26.

wear out,

a.	to make or become unfit or useless through hard or extended use: to wear out clothes.

b.	to expend, consume, or remove, esp. slowly or gradually.

c.	to exhaust, as by continued strain; weary: This endless bickering is wearing me out.

—Idiom

27.

wear thin,

a.	to diminish; weaken: My patience is wearing thin.

b.	to become less appealing, interesting, tolerable, etc.: childish antics that soon wore thin.

Origin:
bef. 900; (v.) ME weren to have (clothes) on the body, waste, damage, suffer waste or damage, OE werian; c. ON verja, Goth wasjan to clothe; (n.) late ME were act of carrying on the body, deriv. of the v.; akin to L vestis clothing (see vest )

Related forms:

wearer, noun

Synonyms:
26c. tire, fatigue, drain.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wear (wâr)

v. wore (wôr, wōr), worn (wôrn, wōrn), wear·ing, wears

v. tr.

To carry or have on the person as covering, adornment, or protection: wearing a jacket; must wear a seat belt.
To carry or have habitually on the person, especially as an aid: wears glasses.
To display in one's appearance: always wears a smile.
To bear, carry, or maintain in a particular manner: wears her hair long.
To fly or display (colors). Used of a ship, jockey, or knight.
To damage, diminish, erode, or consume by long or hard use, attrition, or exposure. Often used with away, down, or off: rocks worn away by the sea; shoes worn down at the heels.
To produce by constant use, attrition, or exposure: eventually wore hollows in the stone steps.
To bring to a specified condition by long use or attrition: wore the clothes to rags; pebbles worn smooth.
To fatigue, weary, or exhaust: Your incessant criticism has worn my patience.
Nautical To make (a sailing ship) come about with the wind aft.

v. intr.

1. To last under continual or hard use: a fabric that will wear.
2. To last through the passage of time: a friendship that wears well.
To break down or diminish through use or attrition: The rear tires began to wear.
To pass gradually or tediously: The hours wore on.
Nautical To come about with stern to windward.

The act of wearing or the state of being worn; use: The coat has had heavy wear.
Clothing, especially of a particular kind or for a particular use. Often used in combination: rainwear; footwear.
Gradual impairment or diminution resulting from use or attrition.
The ability to withstand impairment from use or attrition: The engine has plenty of wear left.
To make or become unusable through long or heavy use.
To use up or consume gradually.
To exhaust; tire.
Chiefly Southern U.S. To punish by spanking.

Phrasal Verb(s):
wear downTo break down or exhaust by relentless pressure or resistance.
wear offTo diminish gradually in effect: The drug wore off.
wear out

To make or become unusable through long or heavy use.
To use up or consume gradually.
To exhaust; tire.
Chiefly Southern U.S. To punish by spanking.

Idiom(s):
wear the pants/trousers Informal To exercise controlling authority in a household.

Idiom(s):
wear thin

To be weakened or eroded gradually: Her patience is wearing thin.
To become less convincing, acceptable, or popular, as through repeated use: excuses that are wearing thin.

[Middle English weren, from Old English werian; see wes-² in Indo-European roots.]
wear'er n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Wear

Wear\, n. The result of wearing or use; consumption, diminution, or impairment due to use, friction, or the like; as, the wear of this coat has been good.

Wear

Wear\ (?; 277), n. Same as Weir.

Wear

Wear\, v. t. [Cf. Veer.] (Naut.) To cause to go about, as a vessel, by putting the helm up, instead of alee as in tacking, so that the vessel's bow is turned away from, and her stern is presented to, the wind, and, as she turns still farther, her sails fill on the other side; to veer.

Wear

Wear\, v. t. [imp. Wore; p. p. Worn; p. pr. & vb. n. Wearing. Before the 15th century wear was a weak verb, the imp. & p. p. being Weared.] [OE. weren, werien, AS. werian to carry, to wear, as arms or clothes; akin to OHG. werien, weren, to clothe, Goth. wasjan, L. vestis clothing, vestire to clothe, Gr. ?, Skr. vas. Cf. Vest.]

1. To carry or bear upon the person; to bear upon one's self, as an article of clothing, decoration, warfare, bondage, etc.; to have appendant to one's body; to have on; as, to wear a coat; to wear a shackle.

What compass will you wear your farthingale? --Shak.

On her white breast a sparkling cross s?? wore, Which Jews might kiss, and infidels adore. --Pope.

2. To have or exhibit an appearance of, as an aspect or manner; to bear; as, she wears a smile on her countenance. "He wears the rose of youth upon him." --Shak.

His innocent gestures wear A meaning half divine. --Keble.

3. To use up by carrying or having upon one's self; hence, to consume by use; to waste; to use up; as, to wear clothes rapidly.

4. To impair, waste, or diminish, by continual attrition, scraping, percussion, on the like; to consume gradually; to cause to lower or disappear; to spend.

That wicked wight his days doth wear. --Spenser.

The waters wear the stones. --Job xiv. 19.

5. To cause or make by friction or wasting; as, to wear a channel; to wear a hole.

6. To form or shape by, or as by, attrition.

Trials wear us into a liking of what, possibly, in the first essay, displeased us. --Locke.

To wear away, to consume; to impair, diminish, or destroy, by gradual attrition or decay.

To wear off, to diminish or remove by attrition or slow decay; as, to wear off the nap of cloth.

To wear on or upon, to wear. [Obs.] "[I] weared upon my gay scarlet gites [gowns.]" --Chaucer.

To wear out. (a) To consume, or render useless, by attrition or decay; as, to wear out a coat or a book. (b) To consume tediously. "To wear out miserable days." --Milton. (c) To harass; to tire. "[He] shall wear out the saints of the Most High." --Dan vii. 25. (d) To waste the strength of; as, an old man worn out in military service.

To wear the breeches. See under Breeches. [Colloq.]

Wear

Wear\, v. i. 1. To endure or suffer use; to last under employment; to bear the consequences of use, as waste, consumption, or attrition; as, a coat wears well or ill; -- hence, sometimes applied to character, qualifications, etc.; as, a man wears well as an acquaintance.

2. To be wasted, consumed, or diminished, by being used; to suffer injury, loss, or extinction by use or time; to decay, or be spent, gradually. "Thus wore out night." --Milton.

Away, I say; time wears. --Shak.

Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou and this people that is with thee. --Ex. xviii. 18.

His stock of money began to wear very low. --Sir W. Scott.

The family . . . wore out in the earlier part of the century. --Beaconsfield.

To wear off, to pass away by degrees; as, the follies of youth wear off with age.

To wear on, to pass on; as, time wears on. --G. Eliot.

To wear weary, to become weary, as by wear, long occupation, tedious employment, etc.

Wear

Wear\, n. 1. The act of wearing, or the state of being worn; consumption by use; diminution by friction; as, the wear of a garment.

2. The thing worn; style of dress; the fashion.

Motley 's the only wear. --Shak.

Wear and tear, the loss by wearing, as of machinery in use; the loss or injury to which anything is subjected by use, accident, etc.

Language Translation for : WEAR

Spanish: llevar; usar,

German: tragen,

Japanese: 身につけている

More Translations »

wear

O.E. werian "to clothe, put on," from P.Gmc. *wazjanan (cf. O.N. verja, O.H.G. werian, Goth. gawasjan "to clothe"), from PIE *wes- "to clothe" (cf. Skt. vaste "he puts on," vasanam "garment;" Avestan vah-; Gk. esthes "clothing," hennymi "to clothe," eima "garment;" L. vestire; Welsh gwisgo, Breton gwiska; O.E. wæstling "sheet, blanket;" Hittite washshush "garments," washanzi "they dress"). The Gmc. forms "were homonyms of the vb. for 'prevent, ward off, protect' (Goth. warjan, O.E. werian, etc.), and this was prob. a factor in their early displacement in most of the Gmc. languages" [Buck]. Shifted from a weak verb (past tense and pp. wered) to a strong one (past tense wore, p.p. worn) in 14c. on analogy of rhyming strong verbs such as bear and tear. Secondary sense of "use up, gradually damage" (c.1275) is from effect of continued use on clothes. To be the worse for wear is attested from 1782; wear and tear is first recorded 1666.

wear

In addition to the idioms beginning with wear, also see hair shirt, wear a; if the shoe fits, wear it; none the worse for (wear); worse for wear.

wear

the removal of material from a solid surface as a result of mechanical action exerted by another solid. Wear chiefly occurs as a progressive loss of material resulting from the mechanical interaction of two sliding surfaces under load. Wear is such a universal phenomenon that rarely do two solid bodies slide over each other or even touch each other without a measurable material transfer or material loss. Thus, coins become worn as a result of continued contact with fabrics and human fingers; pencils become worn after sliding over paper; and rails become worn as a result of the continued rolling of train wheels over them. Only living things (such as bone joints) are in some sense immune to the permanent damage caused by wear, since they have the property of regrowth and healing

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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