from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
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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.
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Away, I say; time wears. --Shak.
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Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou and this
people that is with thee. --Ex. xviii.
18.
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His stock of money began to wear very low. --Sir W.
Scott.
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The family . . . wore out in the earlier part of the
century. --Beaconsfield.
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{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.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Wear \Wear\, v. t. [imp. {Wore} (w[=o]r); p. p. {Worn}
(w[=o]rn); 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. "enny`nai, Skr.
vas. Cf. {Vest}.]
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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.
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What compass will you wear your farthingale? --Shak.
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On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore,
Which Jews might kiss, and infidels adore. --Pope.
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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.
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His innocent gestures wear
A meaning half divine. --Keble.
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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.
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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.
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That wicked wight his days doth wear. --Spenser.
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The waters wear the stones. --Job xiv. 19.
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5. To cause or make by friction or wasting; as, to wear a
channel; to wear a hole.
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6. To form or shape by, or as by, attrition.
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Trials wear us into a liking of what, possibly, in
the first essay, displeased us. --Locke.
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{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 {To wear 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.]
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