Wear v. t. (past wore; past part. worn; pres. part. wearing)
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."What compass will you wear your farthingale?""On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore, Which Jews might kiss, and infidels adore."
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.""His innocent gestures wear A meaning half divine."
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.
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. "That wicked wight his days doth wear.""The waters wear the stones."
5.
To cause or make by friction or wasting; as, to wear a channel; to wear a hole.
6.
To form or shape by, or as by, attrition. "Trials wear us into a liking of what, possibly, in the first essay, displeased us."
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.)"
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."
(c)
To harass; to tire. "(He) shall wear out the saints of the Most High."
(d)
To waste the strength of; as, an old man worn out in military service.
To wear the breeches. See under Breeches. (Colloq.)
Wear v. i. (past wore; past part. worn; pres. part. wearing)
1.
To endure or suffer use; to last under employment; to bear the consequences of use, as waste, consumption, or attrition; as, a coat wears well or ill; hence, sometimes applied to character, qualifications, etc.; as, a man wears well as an acquaintance.
2.
To be wasted, consumed, or diminished, by being used; to suffer injury, loss, or extinction by use or time; to decay, or be spent, gradually. "Thus wore out night.""Away, I say; time wears.""Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou and this people that is with thee.""His stock of money began to wear very low.""The family... wore out in the earlier part of the century."
To wear off, to pass away by degrees; as, the follies of youth wear off with age.
To wear on, to pass on; as, time wears on.
To wear weary, to become weary, as by wear, long occupation, tedious employment, etc.
noun
Wearing n.
1.
The act of one who wears; the manner in which a thing wears; use; conduct; consumption. "Belike he meant to ward, and there to see his wearing."
2.
That which is worn; clothes; garments. (Obs.) "Give me my nightly wearing and adieu."
adjective
Wearing adj. Pertaining to, or designed for, wear; as, wearing apparel.
... be a State senator) was a farmer-like elderly man wearing a badly fitting serge suit. He was markedly Western; so was his wife, who ... — Cavanaugh: Forest Ranger - A Romance of the Mountain West • Hamlin Garland Read full book for free!
... over London on Wednesday the 26th. The sudden noise (which happily produced no panic) in His Majesty's Theatre was merely Miss LILY BRAYTON dropping the clothes she was not wearing. ... — Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 153, Oct. 3, 1917 • Various Read full book for free!
... quaint and dignified little old lady. "When in recent years the blossoming forth of academic dress made a pageant of our great occasions, the badges of scholarship seemed to her foreign to the simplicity of true learning, and she walked bravely in the Commencement procession, wearing the little bonnet ... — The Story of Wellesley • Florence Converse Read full book for free!
... to-day Pantaloon is still wearing the very Venetian clothes of the time when he first played the part. He's got on the first pantaloons ever worn, and his hair is tied in a lovelock. Clown and Pantaloon have got white faces. By this time funny actors, who acted in dumb-show, used to put ... — The Harlequinade - An Excursion • Dion Clayton Calthrop and Granville Barker Read full book for free!
... commonly thronged, that some unusual spectacle was approaching. And peering forward through the folds of the curtains, she beheld, amidst a slowly-advancing crowd, a meanly clad, simple looking country youth wearing a ragged broad-brim, and mounted on an unsightly, donkey-like beast, whose long tail and mane were stuck full of briers, and whose hair, lying in every direction, seemed besmeared with mange and dirt; all combining to give both horse and rider a most ungainly ... — The Rangers - [Subtitle: The Tory's Daughter] • D. P. Thompson Read full book for free!
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