Meaning
3 senses(transitive)To grind or wear down through friction.
attritioned teeth; attritioned rock
(transitive)To reduce the number of (jobs or workers) by not hiring new employees to fill positions that become vacant (often with out).
(intransitive)To undergo a reduction in number.
The cohort of one hundred students had attritioned to sixty by the end of secondary school.
Examples
5 sentencesWe're fighting a war of attrition.
We're fighting a war of attrition with armies of robots.
Rapid attrition in the number of employees led to an increased workload for those who remained.
The US can't fight long wars of attrition.
At this point, it's just a war of attrition. Only those who are patient can survive.
Origin
First attested in the 15th century, from Middle English attricion, attricioun, from MiddleFirst attested in the 15th century, from Middle English attricion, attricioun, from Middle French attricion, attrition and its etymon, Latin attrītiō (“a rubbing against”), from the verb attrītus, past participle of atterō (“to wear”), from ad- (“to, towards”) + terō (“to rub”). By surface analysis, attrit + -ion.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
attritions, attritioning, attritioned, attritioned| Base form | attrition · to attrition |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | attritions |
| Present participle | attritioning |
| Past simple | attritioned |
| Past participle | attritioned |
regular · Lesson
Synonyms
1 synonymsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.