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wear thin

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wear

  [wair] verb, wore, worn, wear⋅ing, noun
Use wear thin in a Sentence
–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.

  1. To carry or have on the person as covering, adornment, or protection: wearing a jacket; must wear a seat belt.

  2. To carry or have habitually on the person, especially as an aid: wears glasses.

  3. To display in one's appearance: always wears a smile.

  4. To bear, carry, or maintain in a particular manner: wears her hair long.

  5. To fly or display (colors). Used of a ship, jockey, or knight.

  6. 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.

  7. To produce by constant use, attrition, or exposure: eventually wore hollows in the stone steps.

  8. To bring to a specified condition by long use or attrition: wore the clothes to rags; pebbles worn smooth.

  9. To fatigue, weary, or exhaust: Your incessant criticism has worn my patience.

  10. 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.

  2. To break down or diminish through use or attrition: The rear tires began to wear.

  3. To pass gradually or tediously: The hours wore on.

  4. Nautical To come about with stern to windward.

n.  

  1. The act of wearing or the state of being worn; use: The coat has had heavy wear.

  2. Clothing, especially of a particular kind or for a particular use. Often used in combination: rainwear; footwear.

  3. Gradual impairment or diminution resulting from use or attrition.

  4. The ability to withstand impairment from use or attrition: The engine has plenty of wear left.

  5. To make or become unusable through long or heavy use.

  6. To use up or consume gradually.

  7. To exhaust; tire.

  8. 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

  1. To make or become unusable through long or heavy use.

  2. To use up or consume gradually.

  3. To exhaust; tire.

  4. 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

  1. To be weakened or eroded gradually: Her patience is wearing thin.

  2. 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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Slang Dictionary
wear

  1. tv.
    to tolerate something. (Usually negative.) : That's no good. I won't wear it.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

wear thin

  1. Be weakened or diminished gradually, as in My patience is wearing thin. [Late 1800s]

  2. Become less convincing, acceptable, or popular, as in His excuses are wearing thin. [First half of 199s] Both usages transfer the thinning of a physical object, such as cloth, to nonmaterial characteristics.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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