wearying

Pluralwearyings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of weary.

   The endless meetings were wearying even the most patient members of the committee.

   Voters seemed to be wearying of the same promises at every election.

   Note

   The -ing form carries both halves of the verb. With an object, something is wearing a person down: the meetings were wearying the committee. Without one, a person is losing patience, and of names what has lost its appeal: voters wearying of the same promises. Both describe a slow process, which is why the progressive suits them so well.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The process of making a person or group weary.

   The general counted on the steady wearying of the enemy by raids every night.

   Month after month of double shifts brought a gradual wearying of the nursing staff that the hospital was slow to notice.

   Similarexhaustion, tiring

   Note

   As a noun it can be counted, and the plural wearyings names the separate strains that add up to fatigue. Bentley's Miscellany in 1841 pairs vigils with their wearyings, the tiredness each long night brings. The word has a slightly literary ring today; everyday speech would more often say the strain or the toll of something.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2