wear

[ wair ]

verb (used with object)

, wore, worn, wear·ing.

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:

   You'll wear that outfit to rags if you don't take better care of it.

   Years of hard labor had worn him to a shadow.

9. to weary; fatigue; exhaust:

   Toil and care soon wear the spirit.

10. to pass (time) gradually or tediously (usually followed 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)

, wore, worn, wear·ing.

1. to undergo gradual impairment, diminution, reduction, etc., from wear, use, attrition, or other causes (often followed by away, down, out, or off ).
2. to retain shape, color, usefulness, value, etc., under wear, use, or any continued strain:

   a strong material that will wear;

   colors that wear well.

3. (of time) to pass, especially slowly or tediously (often followed by on or away ):

   As the day wore on, we had less and less to talk about.

4. to have the quality of being easy or difficult to tolerate, especially after a relatively long association:

   It's hard to get to know him, but he wears well.

5. Nautical. (of a vessel) to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind.
6. Obsolete. to be commonly worn; to be in fashion.

noun

1. the act of wearing; use, as of a garment:

   articles for winter wear;

   I've had a lot of wear out of this coat.

   I had to throw away the shirt after only three wears.

2. the state of being worn, as on the person.
3. clothing or other articles for wearing; especially when fashionable or appropriate for a particular function (often used in combination):

   travel wear;

   sportswear.

4. gradual impairment, wasting, diminution, etc., as from use:

   The carpet shows wear.

5. the quality of resisting deterioration with use; durability.

verb phrase

1. wear out.
2. to diminish slowly or gradually or to diminish in effect; disappear:

   The drug began to wear off.

3. 1. to reduce or impair by long wearing:

      to wear down the heels of one's shoes.

   2. to weary; tire:

      His constant talking wears me down.

   3. to prevail by persistence; overcome:

      to wear down the opposition.

wear

¹

/ wɛə /

verb

1. nautical to tack by gybing instead of by going through stays

Wear

²

/ wɪə /

noun

1. a river in NE England, rising in NW Durham and flowing southeast then northeast to the North Sea at Sunderland. Length: 105 km (65 miles)

wear

³

/ wɛə /

verb

1. tr to carry or have (a garment, etc) on one's person as clothing, ornament, etc
2. tr to carry or have on one's person habitually

   she wears a lot of red

3. tr to have in one's aspect

   to wear a smile

4. tr to display, show, or fly

   a ship wears its colours

5. to deteriorate or cause to deteriorate by constant use or action
6. to produce or be produced by constant rubbing, scraping, etc

   to wear a hole in one's trousers

7. to bring or be brought to a specified condition by constant use or action

   to wear a tyre to shreds

8. intr to submit to constant use or action in a specified way

   his suit wears well

9. tr to harass or weaken
10. whenintr, often foll by on (of time) to pass or be passed slowly
11. slang.
    tr to accept

    Larry won't wear that argument

12. wear ship
    to change the tack of a sailing vessel, esp a square-rigger, by coming about so that the wind passes astern

noun

1. the act of wearing or state of being worn
2. 1. anything designed to be worn

      leisure wear

   2. ( in combination )

      nightwear

3. deterioration from constant or normal use or action
4. the quality of resisting the effects of constant use

Derived Forms

• ˈwearer, noun

Other Words From

• wear·er noun
• re·wear verb rewore reworn rewearing

Word History and Origins

Origin of wear¹

First recorded before 900; (verb) Middle English weren “to have (clothes) on the body, waste, damage, suffer waste or damage,” Old English werian; cognate with Old Norse verja, Gothic wasjan “to clothe”; (noun) late Middle English were “act of carrying on the body,” derivative of the verb; akin to Latin vestis clothing ( vest )

Word History and Origins

Origin of wear¹

C17: from earlier weare, of unknown origin

Origin of wear²

Old English werian; related to Old High German werien, Old Norse verja, Gothic vasjan

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. wear thin,
   1. to diminish; weaken:

      My patience is wearing thin.

   2. to become less appealing, interesting, tolerable, etc.:

      childish antics that soon wore thin.

More idioms and phrases containing wear

• hair shirt, wear a
• if the shoe fits, wear it
• none the worse for (wear)
• worse for wear

Example Sentences

The bridesmaids are expected to wear a ghastly purple leopard-print jumpsuit.

From Los Angeles Times

The 1982 report, prepared by Anglican clergyman Mark Ruston, about the canings said "the scale and severity of the practice was horrific", with accounts of boys beaten so badly they bled, with one describing how he needed to wear nappies until his wounds scabbed over.

From BBC

He would also shower naked with them in the communal showers and the boys were ordered not to wear underpants in bed.

From BBC

Musk is busy “picking out outfits for Trump to wear,” Kimmel said.

From Los Angeles Times

The ISS has six dedicated labs for experiments, and astronauts wear heart, brain or blood monitors to measure their responses to the challenging physical environment.

From BBC

Related Words

• bear
• carry
• cover
• display
• don
• get into
• get on
• put on
• show
• slip on
• sport
• wrap