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wear and tear

American  
[tair] / tɛər /
Or wear-and-tear

noun

  1. damage or deterioration resulting from ordinary use; normal depreciation.

wear and tear British  

noun

  1. damage, depreciation, or loss resulting from ordinary use

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
wear and tear Idioms  

  1. Damage and deterioration resulting from ordinary use and exposure, as in This sofa shows a lot of wear and tear; we should replace it. [Second half of 1600s]

Etymology

Origin of wear and tear

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Coal plants, which can’t easily shut down and restart, either operate at a loss during those hours or ramp down to levels that are inefficient and cause mechanical wear and tear, Dorris said.

From The Wall Street Journal

The supplements may also ease wear and tear, arthritis joint pain and stiffness, according to the results from 113 trials involving nearly 8,000 people.

From BBC

“Boy, Grandpa,” I said, “we should have thought about this library a long time ago. It sure would have saved a lot of wear and tear on Rowdy and me.”

From Literature

Either way, they accumulate less wear and tear.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Ten years ago we transported around 10 million travellers, now we're at a figure of between 22 and 23 million ... what this clearly brings is greater wear and tear and the need for more investment."

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.