wear off

verb

1. (intr) to decrease in intensity gradually

   the pain will wear off in an hour

2. to disappear or cause to disappear gradually through exposure, use, etc

   the pattern on the ring had been worn off

Idioms and Phrases

Diminish gradually, lose effectiveness, as in We'll wait till the drug wears off. [Late 1600s]

Example Sentences

Once the shock wore off, he fluttered down to the whale’s back and leaned over his mother.

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The network, a majority from Altadena, has seen the adrenaline that pushed people at the beginning of the year wear off as a sense of dismay set in.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

So far, stocks have largely ignored tariffs’ threat to the economy, assuming that any resulting inflation will wear off next year.

Read more on Barron's

Back in the forest cabin in Cape Town, the effects of Stuart Dod's "journey" begin to wear off.

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Kirk’s death was ghastly and contemptible, but in a media environment and country conditioned to move on, its shock is already beginning to wear off.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• subside