Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WEAR, v.t. [pret. wore; pp. worn. W. gwariaw, to spend or consume; Sax. weran, werian, to carry, to wear, as arms or clothes.]

1. To waste or impair by rubbing or attrition; to lessen or diminish by time, use or instruments. A current of water often wears a channel in limestone.
2. To carry appendant to the body, as clothes or weapons; as, to wear a coat or a robe; to wear a sword; to wear a crown. On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore. – Pope.
3. To have or exhibit an appearance; to bear; as, she wears a smile on her countenance.
4. To affect by degrees. Trials wear us into a liking of what possibly, in the first essay, displeased us. – Locke. To wear away, to consume; to impair, diminish or destroy by gradual attrition or decay. – Dryden. To wear off, to diminish by attrition or slow decay. – South. To wear out, to consume, to render useless by attrition or decay; as, to wear out a coat or a book. #2. To consume tediously; as, to wear out life in idle projects. #3. To harass; to tire. He shall wear out the saints of the Most High. Dan. vii. #4. To waste the strength of; as, an old man worn out in the service of his country.