wear down
English edit
Verb edit
wear down (third-person singular simple present wears down, present participle wearing down, simple past wore down, past participle worn down)
- To cause (someone) physical or mental fatigue.
- The eight hour shift in the mine began to wear Tim down after a few months.
- To eventually persuade or defeat (someone) through persistent effort.
- At first she refused to buy the kids sweets, but eventually they wore her down.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see wear, down.
Synonyms edit
- See also Thesaurus:fatigue
Coordinate terms edit
- grind down (often synonymous; sometimes hyponymous)
Translations edit
to cause physical or mental fatigue
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