attrition

[uh-trish-uh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR attrition ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a reduction or decrease in numbers, size, or strength: Our club has had a high rate of attrition because so many members have moved away.

a wearing down or weakening of resistance, especially as a result of continuous pressure or harassment: The enemy surrounded the town and conducted a war of attrition.

a gradual reduction in work force without firing of personnel, as when workers resign or retire and are not replaced.

the act of rubbing against something; friction.

a wearing down or away by friction; abrasion.

Theology. imperfect contrition.See under contrition(def 2).

Origin of attrition

1325–75; Middle English < Latin attrītiōn- (stem of attrītiō) friction. See attrite, -ion

Related formsat·tri·tion·al, adjectiveat·tri·tive

[uh-trahy-tiv] /əˈtraɪ tɪv/, adjectivein·ter·at·tri·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for attrition

erosion, attenuation, debilitation, grinding, abrasion, wear, depreciation, disintegration, rubbing, thinning, repentance, remorse, penitence, penance, contriteness

Examples from the Web for attrition

Contemporary Examples of attrition

It is not a decisive war, with a single, signature victory, but a war of attrition.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War
Nancy A. Youssef
January 7, 2015
But there is no consensus about what the attrition of ISIS looks like.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War
Nancy A. Youssef
January 7, 2015
The past two months have been a war of attrition between the Hong Kong government and pro-democracy protestors.
The Monuments Men of Occupy Hong Kong
Brendon Hong
December 4, 2014
Sen. Rand Paul has called for the “attrition if not an outright elimination of the IRS.”
Huckabee: ‘A Tax Is Punishment’
Lloyd Green
September 29, 2014
Following the attrition of heavy industry in the 1980s, the income gap across the United Kingdom has grown substantially.
Scotland’s ‘Yes’ Campaign and the Myth of Scottish Equality
Noah Caldwell
September 18, 2014

Historical Examples of attrition

They have not the attrition which wears away the angularities.
Ireland as It Is
Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
Nothing has done us more harm than all this talk about "attrition."
War Letters of a Public-School Boy
Paul Jones.
The difficulty was to overcome its susceptibility to attrition.
Mizora: A Prophecy
Mary E. Bradley
I say that attrition with confession is necessary: he believes that contrition is necessary.
Pascal
John Tulloch
In what was to a great extent a war of attrition this was a point of some importance.
Experiences of a Dug-out, 1914-1918
Sir Stanley Maude

British Dictionary definitions for attrition

attrition

noun

the act of wearing away or the state of being worn away, as by friction

constant wearing down to weaken or destroy (often in the phrase war of attrition)

Also called: natural wastage a decrease in the size of the workforce of an organization achieved by not replacing employees who retire or resign

geography the grinding down of rock particles by friction during transportation by water, wind, or iceCompare abrasion (def. 3), corrasion

theol sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation, esp as contrasted with contrition, which arises purely from love of God

Derived Formsattritional, adjectiveattritive (əˈtraɪtɪv), adjective

Word Origin for attrition

C14: from Late Latin attrītiō a rubbing against something, from Latin atterere to weaken, from terere to rub

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for attrition

1540s, "abrasion, a scraping," from Latin attritionem (nominative attritio), literally "a rubbing against," noun of action from past participle stem of atterere "to wear, rub away," figuratively "to destroy, waste," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + terere "to rub" (see throw (v.)). The earliest sense in English is from Scholastic theology (late 14c.), "sorrow for sin merely out of fear of punishment," a minor irritation, and thus less than contrition. The sense of "wearing down of military strength" is a World War I coinage (1914). Figurative use by 1930.

attrition in Medicine

attrition

[ə-trĭsh′ən]

n.

A wearing away by friction or rubbing, such as the loss of tooth structure caused by abrasive foods or grinding of the teeth.