wear thin

wear thin
verb
deteriorate through use or stress (Freq. 1)
-

The constant friction wore out the cloth

• Syn: ↑wear, ↑wear off, ↑wear out, ↑wear down
• Derivationally related forms: ↑wear (for: ↑wear)
• Hypernyms: ↑deteriorate
• Hyponyms: ↑ablate, ↑scuff
• Verb Frames:
-

Something ——s

-

Somebody ——s something

-

Something ——s something

* * *

wear thin
1. To become thin or threadbare through use
2. (of patience) to diminish with excessive calls on it
3. (of excuses) to become less convincing through over-use
• • •
Main Entry: ↑wear

* * *

wear thin phrase
if something such as a feeling or explanation wears thin, it becomes gradually weaker or harder to accept

After 50 pages, the reader’s patience starts to wear thin.

Thesaurus: to become, or to make something weakersynonym
Main entry: wear

* * *

be gradually used up or become less convincing or acceptable

his patience was wearing thin | the joke had started to wear thin

* * *

wear thin
1 : to become weak or ineffective

I'd been waiting almost an hour, and my patience was wearing thin. [=I was losing patience; I was beginning to get annoyed/upset]

2 : to become ineffective or uninteresting because of being too familiar or used too often

The comedy's plot relies on a case of mistaken identity, but the joke wears thin.

His charm is beginning to wear thin.

3 : to become thin because of use

The rug by the door is wearing thin and needs to be replaced.

• • •
Main Entry: ↑wear

* * *

wear ˈthin idiom
to begin to become weaker or less acceptable

•

These excuses are wearing a little thin

(= because we've heard them so many times before)

.

•

My patience is beginning to wear very thin.

Main entry: ↑wearidiom

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • wear thin — ► wear thin gradually dwindle or be used up. Main Entry: ↑wear …   English terms dictionary

  • wear thin — {v.} 1. To become thin from use, wearing, or the passing of time. * /My old pair of pants has worn thin at the knees./ * /This old dime has worn very thin./ 2. To grow less, or less interesting; decrease. * /The joke began to wear thin when you… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • wear thin — {v.} 1. To become thin from use, wearing, or the passing of time. * /My old pair of pants has worn thin at the knees./ * /This old dime has worn very thin./ 2. To grow less, or less interesting; decrease. * /The joke began to wear thin when you… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • wear\ thin — v 1. To become thin from use, wearing, or the passing of time. My old pair of pants has worn thin at the knees. This old dime has worn very thin. 2. To grow less, or less interesting; decrease. The joke began to wear thin when you heard it too… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • wear thin — 1) become thin from use or the passing of time The silver dollar had begun to wear thin after it was in use for many years. 2) grow less or less interesting or believable His excuses have begun to wear thin after he keeps using the same ones over …   Idioms and examples

  • wear thin —    Something that is wearing thin is decreasing or losing its interest.     You ve used that excuse so many times, it s beginning to wear thin as in my patience! …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • wear thin — if something such as a feeling or explanation wears thin, it becomes gradually weaker or harder to accept After 50 pages, the reader s patience starts to wear thin …   English dictionary

  • wear thin — 1. if your patience wears thin, you become less and less patient. I ve warned you several times about being late and my patience is wearing thin. (often in continuous tenses) 2. if a joke, an excuse, or an explanation wears thin, it becomes less… …   New idioms dictionary

  • wear thin — phrasal 1. to become weak or ready to give way < my patience was wearing thin > 2. to become trite, unconvincing, or out of date < an argument that quickly wore thin > …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • wear thin — verb To lessen or weaken over time, as from overuse. Continuing his recent stern rhetoric, Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg told reporters in Stockholm that many have worked hard to help Latvia deal with its severe economic recession but that …   Wiktionary

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