wearing away
Slowly being diminished
Wearing away is the gradual erosion or removal of material through persistent friction, pressure, or exposure: The river has been wearing away at the canyon walls for millennia.
It applies equally to physical surfaces and abstract things—patience wears away, resolve wears away.
The process implies slow but steady diminishment rather than sudden destruction.
- abradeErode through friction
- weatheringAtmospheric breakdown of materials
- crumbleFragment gradually
- erodeDiminish through persistent friction
- grindingMolar action sometimes
decay · attrition · gradual decline · denudation · rusting · water damage · scouring · ablation · dilapidate · falling apart · damage · gnaw · decomposition · dissipation · threadbare · smoothing · rubbing · fading
- decliningdeclining, waning, fading, diminishing, decreasing
- gradual declinefading, waning, dwindling, diminishing, ebbing
- erosionweathering, scouring, attrition, denudation, chemical weathering
- depletingusing up, depleting, exhausting, draining, consuming
- dissolutionbreakup, breakdown, liquidation, wind down, disintegration
wearing awaybuilding up
Increasing gradually
accumulating · depositing · layering · amassing · piling up
wearing awayreinforcing
Making more robust
strengthening · fortifying · restoring · hardening · solidifying
wearing awayenduring
Persisting through time
persisting · remaining · lasting · withstanding · resisting
wear, away, worn, wearing, erosion, wears, abrasion, corrosion, eroding