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View synonyms for wear

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. to diminish slowly or gradually or to diminish in effect; disappear:

    The drug began to wear off.

    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
“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


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)
“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

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
“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

noun

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

      leisure wear

    2. ( in combination )

      nightwear

  2. deterioration from constant or normal use or action
  3. the quality of resisting the effects of constant use
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈwearer, noun
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Other Words From

  • wear·er noun
  • re·wear verb rewore reworn rewearing
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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 )
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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
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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
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Example Sentences

The next dry day, she invariably looked worse for wear, as if she’d been shivering since our last encounter.

They also suffer from far less wear and tear over the course of their lifespan.

It wouldn’t be unlike the shoewear company to promote a new technology for everyday wear and then incorporate it into their other shoe lines.

Then when I was pregnant with my son, working at the UN, and unable to find professional maternity wear that was long-lasting, sustainable, and comfortable, I realized there is a huge gap in the market here.

From Fortune

Microscopic wear and polish on a worn section of the Tabun stone resulted from it having been ground or rubbed against relatively soft material, such as animal hides or plants, the scientists conclude in the January Journal of Human Evolution.

Growing up as a teen in the 1960s, she had yearned to wear the same clothes her girlfriends wore.

You had a great line in your piece on Geoffrey Beene about the “genre” of evening wear.

This is a country where women are allowed to wear one of 14 hairstyles.

Some of the staff who work at this hotel are North Korean and wear traditional North Korean dresses.

Yes, your German Shepherd Buster can wear his own health tracker.

She fixed her imploring eyes on the Virgin's face and on the saints; but all seemed to her to wear a forbidding look.

At home Liszt doesn't wear his long abb's coat, but a short one, in which he looks much more artistic.

To travelers blessed with golden sunshine, the Rhine may wear a grander, nobler aspect, and to such I leave it.

"I bought them boots to wear only when I go into genteel society," said one of the codfish tribe, to a wag, the other day.

The Swiss are freemen, and wear the fact unconsciously but palpably on their brows and beaming from their eyes.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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