[syn: exhausting, tiring, wearing, wearying]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wearing \Wear"ing\, a.
Pertaining to, or designed for, wear; as, wearing apparel.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wearing \Wear"ing\, n.
1. The act of one who wears; the manner in which a thing
wears; use; conduct; consumption.
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Belike he meant to ward, and there to see his
wearing. --Latimer.
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2. That which is worn; clothes; garments. [Obs.]
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Give me my nightly wearing and adieu. --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wear \Wear\, v. t. [imp. Wore (w[=o]r); p. p. Worn
(w[=o]rn); p. pr. & vb. n. Wearing. Before the 15th century
wear was a weak verb, the imp. & p. p. being Weared.] [OE.
weren, werien, AS. werian to carry, to wear, as arms or
clothes; akin to OHG. werien, weren, to clothe, Goth. wasjan,
L. vestis clothing, vestire to clothe, Gr. "enny`nai, Skr.
vas. Cf. Vest.]
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1. To carry or bear upon the person; to bear upon one's self,
as an article of clothing, decoration, warfare, bondage,
etc.; to have appendant to one's body; to have on; as, to
wear a coat; to wear a shackle.
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What compass will you wear your farthingale? --Shak.
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On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore,
Which Jews might kiss, and infidels adore. --Pope.
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2. To have or exhibit an appearance of, as an aspect or
manner; to bear; as, she wears a smile on her countenance.
"He wears the rose of youth upon him." --Shak.
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His innocent gestures wear
A meaning half divine. --Keble.
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3. To use up by carrying or having upon one's self; hence, to
consume by use; to waste; to use up; as, to wear clothes
rapidly.
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4. To impair, waste, or diminish, by continual attrition,
scraping, percussion, on the like; to consume gradually;
to cause to lower or disappear; to spend.
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That wicked wight his days doth wear. --Spenser.
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The waters wear the stones. --Job xiv. 19.
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5. To cause or make by friction or wasting; as, to wear a
channel; to wear a hole.
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6. To form or shape by, or as by, attrition.
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Trials wear us into a liking of what, possibly, in
the first essay, displeased us. --Locke.
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To wear away, to consume; to impair, diminish, or destroy,
by gradual attrition or decay.
To wear off, to diminish or remove by attrition or slow
decay; as, to wear off the nap of cloth.
To wear on or To wear upon, to wear. [Obs.] "[I] weared
upon my gay scarlet gites [gowns.]" --Chaucer.
To wear out.
(a) To consume, or render useless, by attrition or decay;
as, to wear out a coat or a book.
(b) To consume tediously. "To wear out miserable days."
--Milton.
(c) To harass; to tire. "[He] shall wear out the saints of
the Most High." --Dan vii. 25.
(d) To waste the strength of; as, an old man worn out in
military service.
To wear the breeches. See under Breeches. [Colloq.]
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
wearing
adj 1: producing exhaustion; "an exhausting march"; "the visit
was especially wearing" [syn: exhausting, tiring,
wearing, wearying]
n 1: (geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding
something down (as by particles washing over it) [syn:
erosion, eroding, eating away, wearing, wearing
away]
2: the act of having on your person as a covering or adornment;
"she bought it for everyday wear" [syn: wear, wearing]