# wear out

Pronunciation: say "wair OWT" US /wɛɹ ˈaʊt/, UK /wɛəɹ ˈaʊt/

## Phrasal verb

1. To make something damaged, useless or ineffective through long use, especially hard, heavy or careless use.
   - Simple: To use something so much or so roughly that it becomes damaged or useless.
   - _Heavy trucks wear out the road surface far faster than cars do._
   - _She wore out three keyboards while writing her first novel._
2. To make someone exhausted or weary, or add to their tiredness, through continued strain or effort.
   - Simple: To make someone very tired.
   - _Months of constant travel finally wore out the band, and they canceled the last shows._
   - _Our deeper bench let us wear out the other team in the second half._
3. To deteriorate or stop working well after long use, exposure or strain.
   - Simple: To become old, damaged or useless after a lot of use.
   - _Brake pads wear out sooner if you ride the brakes down long hills._
   - _The canvas awning over the porch wore out after years of sun and rain._
4. To become exhausted or weary from continued strain or effort.
   - Simple: To become very tired.
   - _By the tenth mile, even the leaders were starting to wear out._
   - _Without proper breaks, even experienced nurses wear out over a double shift._
5. To wear a piece of clothing in public, outside the home.
   - Simple: To wear clothes outside the house, where people can see them.
   - _Is this dress too formal to wear out to brunch?_
   - _Those leggings are meant for the gym, not for wearing out in the evening._
6. To wear a shirt untucked, hanging outside the pants, in a casual way.
   - Simple: To wear a shirt hanging loose, not tucked into your pants.
   - _On casual Fridays, most of the staff wear out their shirts instead of tucking them in._
   - _Shirts with a straight, even hem are usually designed to be worn out._
7. To punish someone by spanking. *(dialectal, Southern US)*
   - Simple: To punish someone by spanking them.
   - _If y'all don't quit fighting, I'm fixing to wear out the both of you._
   - _Her daddy wore out her brother for sneaking the truck out at night._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/wear-out (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).