WEAR THIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wear thin mean? 

• WEAR THIN (verb)
  The verb WEAR THIN has 1 sense:

1. deteriorate through use or stress

  Familiarity information: WEAR THIN used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WEAR THIN (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Deteriorate through use or stress

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

wear; wear down; wear off; wear out; wear thin

Context example:

The constant friction wore out the cloth

Hypernyms (to "wear thin" is one way to...):

deteriorate (become worse or disintegrate)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wear thin"):

ablate (wear away through erosion or vaporization)

scuff (get or become scuffed)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something