WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

wear away
    v 1: cut away in small pieces [syn: whittle away, whittle
         down, wear away]
    2: diminish, as by friction; "Erosion wore away the surface"
       [syn: wear away, wear off]
    3: become ground down or deteriorate; "Her confidence eroded"
       [syn: erode, gnaw, gnaw at, eat at, wear away]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

209 Moby Thesaurus words for "wear away":
   abate, ablate, abrade, abrase, absorb, abstract, assimilate,
   atomize, bark, bate, be all over, be consumed, be eaten away,
   be gone, be no more, become extinct, become void, bite,
   bleed white, blow over, break, break up, burn up, cave in, cease,
   cease to be, cease to exist, chafe, collapse, come apart,
   come unstuck, conk out, consume, consume away, corrode, crack up,
   crumble, crumble into dust, curtail, decay, decline, decompose,
   decrease, deduct, deliquesce, dematerialize, depart, deplete,
   depreciate, derogate, detract, die, die away, die out, digest,
   diminish, disappear, disintegrate, disjoin, disorganize, disparage,
   dispel, disperse, dissipate, dissolve, dive, do a fade-out, drain,
   drain of resources, dribble away, droop, drop, drop off, dwindle,
   eat, eat away, eat up, ebb, erase, erode, evanesce, evaporate,
   exhaust, exit, expend, expire, extract, fade, fade away, fade out,
   fail, faint, fall, fall away, fall off, fall to pieces, file,
   file away, finish, finish off, fission, fizzle out, flag, flee,
   fly, fray, frazzle, fret, gall, give out, give way, gnaw,
   gnaw away, go, go away, go downhill, go out, go soft, go to pieces,
   gobble, gobble up, grate, graze, grind, have it, have its time,
   hide, hit the skids, impair, impoverish, ingest, languish, lapse,
   leach, leave no trace, leave the scene, lessen, let up, melt,
   melt away, molder, pass, pass away, pass out, peg out, perish,
   peter out, pine, plummet, plunge, poop out, purify, rasp, raze,
   reduce, refine, remove, retire from sight, retrench, rub away,
   rub off, rub out, run its course, run low, run out, sag, scour,
   scrape, scrub, scuff, shorten, shrink, sink, sink away, skin,
   spend, split, squander, subduct, subside, subtract, suck dry,
   suffer an eclipse, swallow, swallow up, tail off, take away,
   take from, tatter, thin, thin out, use up, vanish,
   vanish from sight, wane, waste, waste away, weaken, wear,
   wear down, wear off, wear out, wear ragged, wear thin, weather,
   weed, wilt, withdraw, yield