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WEAR AWAY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Become ground down or deteriorate
Example:
Her confidence eroded
Synonyms:
eat at; erode; gnaw; gnaw at; wear away
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "wear away" is one way to...):
crumble; decay; dilapidate (fall into decay or ruin)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Derivation:
wearing away ((geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it))
Sense 2
Meaning:
Diminish, as by friction
Example:
Erosion wore away the surface
Synonyms:
wear away; wear off
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "wear away" is one way to...):
remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wear away"):
abrade; abrase; corrade; rub down; rub off (wear away)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Sense 3
Meaning:
Cut away in small pieces
Synonyms:
wear away; whittle away; whittle down
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "wear away" is one way to...):
damage (inflict damage upon)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
