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Attrition
Definitions
- 1 Grinding down or wearing away by friction. countable, uncountable
- 2 the act of rubbing together; wearing something down by friction wordnet
- 3 Grinding down or wearing away by friction.; The wearing of teeth due to their grinding. countable, uncountable
- 4 a wearing down to weaken or destroy wordnet
- 5 A gradual reduction in number. countable, uncountable
"Recent years have seen […] more and more blatant reversals of previous Supreme Court decisions in favor of the constitutional rights of minorities. These increasingly conservative decisions, and constant attrition of individuals' rights, have directly paralleled the alarming increase of convictions in our courts."
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- 6 sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation wordnet
- 7 A gradual reduction in number.; A gradual, natural reduction in membership or personnel, as through injury, incapacitation, retirement, resignation, or death. countable, uncountable
- 8 the wearing down of rock particles by friction due to water or wind or ice wordnet
- 9 A gradual reduction in number.; The loss of participants during an experiment. countable, uncountable
- 10 erosion by friction wordnet
- 11 A gradual reduction in number.; The loss of a first or second language or a portion of that language. countable, uncountable
- 12 Imperfect contrition or remorse. countable, uncountable
- 1 To grind or wear down through friction. transitive
"attritioned teeth; attritioned rock"
- 2 To reduce the number of (jobs or workers) by not hiring new employees to fill positions that become vacant (often with out). transitive
"[…] but the heart of the health services in New York will have to attrition out some 3,000 to 5,000 jobs."
- 3 To undergo a reduction in number. intransitive
"The cohort of one hundred students had attritioned to sixty by the end of secondary school."
Etymology
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.
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.
See also for "attrition"
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Unscramble this word: attrition