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Contents
wear
Overview
This page has 19 definitions of wear in English. Wear is a verb and noun. Examples of how to use wear in a sentence are shown. Also define these 70 related words and terms: carry, equipped, clothing, equipment, decoration, habitually, consistently, fashion, manner, bear, display, aspect, appearance, endure, eat away, erode, diminish, consume, gradually, deterioration, attrition, exposure, copular verb, impaired, reduced, process, activity, use, exhaust, fatigue, expend, weary, last, durable, usefulness, value, strain, tolerate, annoyance, irritation, weariness, slowly, tediously, nautical, sailing, vessel, tack, wind, stern, tacking, bow, ware, weared, wore, worn, gybe, damage, strength, guard, watch, keep watch, defend, protect, ward off, prevent, drive off, repel, conduct, guide, and weir.
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to clothe, cover over; put on, wear, use; stock (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *waʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *wazjaną (“to clothe”), from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to dress, put on (clothes)”).
Cognate to Sanskrit वस्ते (váste), Ancient Greek ἕννυμι (hénnumi, “put on”), Latin vestis (“garment”) (English vest), Albanian vesh (“dress up, wear”), Tocharian B wäs-, Old Armenian զգենում (zgenum), Welsh gwisgo, Hittite 𒉿𒀸- (waš-).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /wɛə/
- (General American) enPR: wĕr, IPA(key): /wɛə(ɹ)/, [wɛɹ], [wɛɚ]
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
- Homophones: ware, where (in accents with the wine-whine merger), were (some dialects)
Verb
wear (third-person singular simple present wears, present participle wearing, simple past wore, past participle worn or (now colloquial and nonstandard) wore)
- To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, etc.
- He's wearing some nice pants today. She wore her medals with pride. Please wear your seatbelt. Can you wear makeup and sunscreen at the same time? He was wearing his lunch after tripping and falling into the buffet.
- 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., OCLC 580270828, page 01:
- It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess[1]:
- ‘It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.’
Carry definition
To lift (something) and take it to another place; to transport (something) by lifting. (1 of 27 carry definitions)
Equipped definition
simple past tense and past participle of equip
Clothing definition
present participle of clothe
Equipment definition
The act of equipping, or the state of being equipped, as for a voyage or expedition. (1 of 2 equipment definitions)
Decoration definition
The act of adorning, embellishing, or honoring; ornamentation. (1 of 4 decoration definitions)
- To have or carry on one's person habitually, consistently; or, to maintain in a particular fashion or manner.
- He wears eyeglasses. She wears her hair in braids.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 10, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.
Fashion definition
A current (constantly changing) trend, favored for frivolous rather than practical, logical, or intellectual reasons. (1 of 5 fashion definitions)
- To bear or display in one's aspect or appearance.
- She wore a smile all day. He walked out of the courtroom wearing an air of satisfaction.
Bear definition
A large omnivorous mammal, related to the dog and raccoon, having shaggy hair, a very small tail, and flat feet; a member of family Ursidae. (1 of 9 bear definitions)
Appearance definition
The act of appearing or coming into sight; the act of becoming visible to the eye. (1 of 8 appearance definitions)
- (colloquial, with "it") To overcome one's reluctance and endure a (previously specified) situation.
- I know you don't like working with him, but you'll just have to wear it.
- To eat away at, erode, diminish, or consume gradually; to cause a gradual deterioration in; to produce (some change) through attrition, exposure, or constant use.
- You're going to wear a hole in the bottom of those shoes. The water has slowly worn a channel into these rocks. Long illness had worn the bloom from her cheeks. Exile had worn the man to a shadow.
Erode definition
To wear away by abrasion, corrosion or chemical reaction. (1 of 2 erode definitions)
Gradually definition
In a gradual manner; making slow progress; slowly. (1 of 2 gradually definitions)
Exposure definition
The condition of being exposed, uncovered, or unprotected. (1 of 8 exposure definitions)
- (intransitive, copulative) To undergo gradual deterioration; become impaired; be reduced or consumed gradually due to any continued process, activity, or use.
- The tiles were wearing thin due to years of children's feet.
- 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], OCLC 742335644:
- His stock of money […] began to wear very low.
- 1880, Benjamin Disraeli, Endymion
- The family that had raised it wore out in the earlier part of this century
Impaired definition
Rendered less effective. (1 of 2 impaired definitions)
Reduced definition
simple past tense and past participle of reduce
Process definition
A series of events which produce a result (the product). (1 of 9 process definitions)
Use definition
The act of using. (1 of 10 use definitions)
- To exhaust, fatigue, expend, or weary.
- His neverending criticism has finally worn my patience. Toil and care soon wear the spirit. Our physical advantage allowed us to wear the other team out and win.
- (intransitive) To last or remain durable under hard use or over time; to retain usefulness, value, or desirable qualities under any continued strain or long period of time; sometimes said of a person, regarding the quality of being easy or difficult to tolerate.
- Don't worry, this fabric will wear. These pants will last you for years. This color wears so well. I must have washed this sweater a thousand times. I have to say, our friendship has worn pretty well. It's hard to get to know him, but he wears well.
Usefulness definition
The quality or degree of being useful.
Value definition
The quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable. (1 of 11 value definitions)
Tolerate definition
To allow (something that one dislikes or disagrees with) to exist or occur without interference.
- (intransitive, colloquial) (in the phrase "wearing on (someone)") To cause annoyance, irritation, fatigue, or weariness near the point of an exhaustion of patience.
- Her high pitched voice is really wearing on me lately.
- (intransitive, of time) To pass slowly, gradually or tediously.
- wear on, wear away. As the years wore on, we seemed to have less and less in common.
- c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i]:
- Away, I say; time wears.
- 1671, John Milton, “Book the Second”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398:
- Thus wore out night.
- (nautical) To bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern (as opposed to tacking when the wind is brought around the bow); to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind. Also written "ware". Past: weared, or wore/worn.
- Synonym: gybe
Sailing definition
present participle of sail
Vessel definition
Any craft designed for transportation on water, such as a ship or boat. (1 of 6 vessel definitions)
Wind definition
Real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pressure. (1 of 14 wind definitions)
Tacking definition
present participle of tack
Bow definition
A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows. (1 of 12 bow definitions)
Ware definition
Aware.
Weared definition
simple past tense and past participle of wear
Worn definition
damaged and shabby as a result of much use
Gybe definition
To shift a fore-and-aft sail from one side of a sailing vessel to the other, while sailing before the wind. (1 of 4 gybe definitions)
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Dictionary:Entry layout § Translations.
See also
Noun
wear (uncountable)
- (uncountable) (in combination) clothing
- footwear; outdoor wear; maternity wear
- (uncountable) damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time
- 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
- Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing.
Damage definition
Injury or harm; the condition or measure of something not being intact. (1 of 2 damage definitions)
- 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
- (uncountable) fashion
- c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene vii]:
- Motley's the only wear.
Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:wear.
Related terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to guard, keep, defend; ward off, hinder, prevent, forbid; restrain; occupy, inhabit; dam up; discharge obligations on (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *warjan, from Proto-Germanic *warjaną (“to defend, protect, ward off”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover, protect, save, defend”).
Cognate with Scots wer, weir (“to defend, protect”), Dutch weren (“to aver, ward off”), German wehren (“to fight”), Swedish värja (“to defend, ward off”), Icelandic verja (“to defend”).
Alternative forms
Verb
wear (third-person singular simple present wears, present participle wearing, simple past weared or wore, past participle weared or worn)
- (now chiefly Britain dialectal, transitive) To guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion.
Guard definition
A person who, or thing that, protects or watches over something. (1 of 15 guard definitions)
- (now chiefly Britain dialectal, transitive) To defend; protect.
Defend definition
To ward off attacks against; to fight to protect; to guard. (1 of 9 defend definitions)
- (now chiefly Britain dialectal, transitive) To ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel.
- to wear the wolf from the sheep
Prevent definition
To stop (an outcome); to keep from (doing something). (1 of 5 prevent definitions)
Drive Off definition
To force to leave or go away.
Repel definition
To turn (someone) away from a privilege, right, job, etc. (1 of 7 repel definitions)
- (now chiefly Britain dialectal, transitive) To conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety.
Conduct definition
The act or method of controlling or directing (1 of 6 conduct definitions)
Guide definition
Someone who guides, especially someone hired to show people around a place or an institution and offer information and explanation. (1 of 10 guide definitions)
Etymology 3
Noun
wear (plural wears)
- Dated form of weir.
Weir definition
An adjustable dam placed across a river to regulate the flow of water downstream. (1 of 2 weir definitions)