# wear

Pronunciation: say "WAIR" US /wɛ(ə)ɹ/, UK /wɛə/

## Verb

1. To have clothing, jewelry, equipment or similar on the body, at a given time or habitually; also, to have the hair or beard in a particular style.
   - Simple: To have clothes, jewelry or other things on your body, or to have your hair in a certain style.
   - _All visitors must wear safety goggles inside the lab._
   - _She wore her grandmother's necklace to the wedding._
2. To damage, thin or use something up gradually through use, rubbing or exposure, or to become damaged or reduced in this way; also, to make a hole, groove or path by such rubbing.
   - Simple: To slowly damage or use up something by rubbing or use, make a hole in it, or become damaged like this.
   - _Cheap carpets wear faster in busy hallways._
   - _Over the decades, the inscription on the monument had worn almost to nothing._
4. To bear or display something in one's expression, manner, or general appearance.
   - Simple: To show a feeling on your face or in the way you look.
   - _He wore an air of quiet confidence throughout the interview._
   - _Survivors of the flood still wear haunted expressions when they talk about that night._
5. To make someone gradually tired, weak, or impatient, as in 'wear someone down' or 'the delays were wearing on her'.
   - Simple: To slowly make someone tired, weak, or annoyed.
   - _Months of litigation had worn both families down, financially and emotionally._
   - _The constant noise from the building site began to wear on her nerves._
7. To remain durable and retain usefulness or value under hard use or over time; sometimes said of a person, with regard to how easy they are to tolerate.
   - Simple: To stay strong and useful even after a lot of use.
   - _This fabric wears beautifully and still looks new after years of washing._
   - _Some friendships wear better than others as the years pass._
9. Of time or an activity, to drag slowly or tediously on, usually in wear on.
   - Simple: To pass very slowly, in a way that feels long and boring.
   - _The meeting wore on past midnight with no decision in sight._
   - _The last weeks of the semester wear on more slowly every year._
11. To get past one's reluctance and put up with a situation that has already been mentioned. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To put up with a situation you do not like, even though you did not want to.
   - _The hotel lost our booking, and with every other room in town taken, we just had to wear it._
   - _He might grumble about the schedule change, but he'll wear it in the end._

## Noun

3. Deterioration in an item's appearance or strength resulting from prolonged use.
   - Simple: Damage that slowly happens to something because people use it a lot.
   - _The leather seats showed significant wear after a decade of daily commuting._
   - _Inspectors measure brake-pad wear at every service visit._
6. Clothing; garments thought of as a group rather than as individual pieces.
   - Simple: The clothes that people put on their bodies.
   - _The label is best known for its elegant evening wear._
   - _Her closet held office wear on one side and weekend wear on the other._
8. The act of wearing something, or the use an item gets while it is worn.
   - Simple: The use something gets from being worn or used often.
   - _The silk dress was too delicate for regular wear._
   - _The pocket watch had been in daily wear for thirty years and still kept perfect time._

## Noun

10. Fashion; the style of dress currently in favor. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The kind of clothes that are popular right now.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To bring a sailing vessel onto the other tack by turning the stern through the wind, rather than tacking; also, to come around onto a new tack by turning away from the wind.
- (verb) To guard, defend or protect something, keeping attackers, animals or harm away from it.
- (verb) To conduct or guide carefully and cautiously, as into a fold or other place of safety.

## Origin

Old English werian ("to clothe, cover, put on, wear") became Middle English weren. It goes back to Proto-Germanic *wazjaną ("to clothe") and in the end to *wes-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to dress, put on clothes." Latin vestis ("garment") and Ancient Greek hénnumi ("put on") are relatives. The verb started out regular but turned irregular in Middle English, modeled on verbs like bear and tear.

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