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

Cleveland Clinic warns that hard bristles and aggressive scrubbing can wear down enamel and damage gum tissue. — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 7 Oct. 2026

Cleveland Clinic warns that hard bristles and heavy pressure can wear down enamel and damage gum tissue. — Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2026

That means more people reaching the execution chamber are old, ill, worn down by decades of poor prison medical care and potentially harder to put to death. — Keri Blakinger, ProPublica, 6 Oct. 2026

That standard reaction produces high-energy neutrons, which wear down reactor walls over time. — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 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