wearing down

Verb

wear down (third-person singular simple present wears down, present participle wearing down, simple past wore down, past participle worn down)

1. To cause (someone) physical or mental fatigue.
   • The eight hour shift in the mine began to wear Tim down after a few months.
2. To eventually persuade or defeat (someone) through persistent effort.
   • At first she refused to buy the kids sweets, but eventually they wore her down.
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see wear, down.