wearing and tearing

Verb

wear and tear (third-person singular simple present wears and tears, present participle wearing and tearing, simple past wore and tore, past participle worn and torn)

1. (transitive) To cause (something) physical damage due to ordinary use over time; to wear (down).
   • […] Solomon Skinflint, […] ſeeing a large Sheet of Paper that vvould hold three or four Pair of Hoſe, going to be vvaſted, called out, […] This gives us a freſh Opportunity of ſhevving the good Nature of this injured Gentleman; vvho […] ſaved the Paper; vvhoſe Deſtiny vvas not to be burnt, but...[1757?], G[eorge] S[mith] Green, “Mr. Van Turns Tradesman again; and Setles at Gotham: Is Assailed by the Law: Finds Friends—but Very False Ones: Becomes a Tool of a Party”, in The Life of Mr. John...
2. (figuratively, transitive) To cause emotional damage to (someone's feelings, spirit, etc.).
   • Murmuring vexes the heart, it vvears and tears the heart, it inrages and inflames the heart, it vvounds and ſtabs the heart; […]1669, Thomas Brooks, The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod: With Soveraign Antidotes against the Most Miserable Exigents: […], London: […] John Hancock, […], →OCLC, page 168
3. (intransitive) Of a thing: to be caused physical damage due to ordinary use over time.
   • The wives toiled over the rough work clothing: long john underwear, heavy socks, rubber boots, thick flannel shirts, oilskins—it all wore and tore and sprung holes from the hard use of battling storm and bad weather.1962, Curtis Bok, Maria: a Tale of the Northeast Coast and of the North Atlantic (A Borzoi Book), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC, page 127

See all 8 meanings of wear and tear