First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
attrition
noun at·tri·tion \ə-ˈtri-shən, a-\
: a reduction in the number of employees or participants that occurs when people leave because they resign, retire, etc., and are not replaced
: the act or process of weakening and gradually defeating an enemy through constant attacks and continued pressure over a long period of time
Full Definition of ATTRITION
1
[Middle English attricioun, from Medieval Latin attrition-, attritio, from Latin] : sorrow for one's sins that arises from a motive other than that of the love of God
2
: the act of rubbing together : friction; also : the act of wearing or grinding down by friction
3
: the act of weakening or exhausting by constant harassment, abuse, or attack <a war of attrition>
4
: a reduction in numbers usually as a result of resignation, retirement, or death <a company with a high rate of attrition>
— at·tri·tion·al \-ˈtri-sh(ə-)nəl\ adjective
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Examples of ATTRITION
- His first response was a plan to streamline management, reducing the company's white-collar ranks through attrition. An old-school CEO who had been with Stanley most of his adult life, Davis considered layoffs a last resort. But by the time he stepped down as CEO in 1987, hundreds of factory workers had lost their jobs on his orders. —James Lardner, New York Review of Books, 14 June 2007
- Younger operatives are resigning in droves, because they have given up hope of reform. The attrition was sufficient to provoke an investigation by the inspector general in 1996. —Edward G. Shirley, Atlantic, February 1998
- This had led the British to look upon these sieges as an opportunity to deplete the German army by the gradual process of attrition. Because by 1917, they had so many cannon and such immense supplies of ammunition, they believed that their attacks could inflict more manpower losses than they themselves would suffer. —Archer Jones, Elements of Military Strategy, 1996
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Origin of ATTRITION
Latin attrition-, attritio, from atterere to rub against, from ad- + terere to rub — more at throw
Related to ATTRITION
- Synonyms
- corrosion, erosion, undermining, waste
- Antonyms
- buildup
Other Christian Religious Terms
Rhymes with ATTRITION
addition, admission, ambition, audition, beautician, clinician, cognition, coition, commission, condition, contrition, demission, dentition, dismission, Domitian, edition, emission, ethician, fruition, ignition, Kittitian, lenition, logician, magician, Mauritian, monition, mortician, munition, musician, nutrition, omission, optician, partition, patrician, perdition, permission, petition, Phoenician, physician, Politian, position, punition, remission, rendition, sedition, submission, suspicion, tactician, technician, tradition, transition, transmission, tuition, volition
Medical Dictionary
attrition
noun at·tri·tion \ə-ˈtrish-ən\
Medical Definition of ATTRITION
: the act of rubbing together; also : the act of wearing or grinding down by friction <attrition of teeth>
—at·tri·tion·al \-ˈtrish-nəl, -ˈtrish-ən-əl\ adjective
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