wear

verb

1. (transitive)To have on:

   “He's wearing some nice pants today.”

   “She wore her medals with pride.”

   “Please wear your seatbelt.”

   “Can you wear makeup and sunscreen at the same time?”

   “He was wearing his lunch after tripping and falling into the buffet.”

2. (transitive)To have on:

   “He wears eyeglasses.”

   “She wears her hair in braids.”

   “It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.”

3. (transitive)To have on:

   “She wore a smile all day.”

   “He walked out of the courtroom wearing an air of satisfaction.”

   “Then the bridegroom came slowly up the walk, wearing a very unbridegroomlike aspect, […]”

4. To erode:

   “You're going to wear a hole in the bottom of those shoes.”

   “The water has slowly worn a channel into these rocks.”

   “Long illness had worn the bloom from her cheeks.”

   “Exile had worn the man to a shadow.”

   “And They made the Moon, with his face wrinkled with many mountains and worn with a thousand valleys, to regard with pale eyes the games of the small gods, and to watch throughout the resting time of Māna-Yood-Sushāī; to watch, to regard all things, and be silent.”

5. (copulative, intransitive)To erode:

   “The tiles were wearing thin due to years of children's feet.”

   “His stock of money[…] began to wear very low.”

   “The family that had raised it wore out in the earlier part of this century”

6. To erode:

   “His neverending criticism has finally worn my patience.”

   “Toil and care soon wear the spirit.”

   “Our physical advantage allowed us to wear the other team out and win.”

   “Our ſoules, whoſe faculties can comprehend The wondrous Architecture of the world: And meaſure euery wandring planets courſe, Still climing after knowledge infinite, And alwaies mouing as the reſtles ſpheares, Wils vs to weare our ſelues & neuer reſt, […]”

7. (colloquial, intransitive)To erode:

   “Her high pitched voice is really wearing on me lately.”

8. (colloquial)To endure:

   “I know you don't like working with him, but you'll just have to wear it.”

9. (intransitive)To endure:

   “Don't worry, this fabric will wear. These pants will last you for years.”

   “This color wears so well. I must have washed this sweater a thousand times.”

   “I have to say, our friendship has worn pretty well.”

   “It's hard to get to know him, but he wears well.”

10. (intransitive)To endure:

    “wear on, wear away.”

    “As the years wore on, we seemed to have less and less in common.”

    “Away, I say; time wears.”

    “Thus wore out night.”

    “That loss is common would not make ⁠My own less bitter, rather more: ⁠Too common! Never morning wore To evening, but some heart did break.”

11. To bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern (as opposed to tacking when the wind is brought around the bow); to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind.
12. (UK, dialectal, transitive)To guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion.
13. (UK, dialectal, transitive)To defend; protect.
14. (UK, dialectal, transitive)To ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel.

    “to wear the wolf from the sheep”

15. (UK, dialectal, transitive)To conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety.

noun

1. (in-compounds, uncountable)Clothing.

   “footwear; outdoor wear; maternity wear”

2. (uncountable)Damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time.

   “Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a most strange, as for me it was a most fortunate, thing.”

3. (uncountable)Fashion.

   “Motley's the onely weare.”

4. (uncountable)Wearing.

   “It is obvious, of course, that a cylinder so applied is not for constant wear, and it is not intended in any way to correct any error of refraction, but is used merely as an exercise for a few minutes at a time at repeated intervals. In case of Oblique Astigmatism the wearing of the correction will frequently fail to give satisfaction when complicated by oblique muscular trouble, […]”

   “Prolonged wear of the interceptor body armor outer tactical vest (OTV) is frequently blamed for common complaints of neck and shoulder pain. […] Even if patients improved after a period of light duty and shoulder rehabilitation, many complained of pain after returning to OTV wear when their shoulders again became the focal point of weight distribution.”

   “Softer crystals are best reserved for occasional wear, whereas harder crystals can be worn every day.”

5. (alt-of, dated)Dated form of weir.

   “Cool and clear, cool and clear, / By shining shingle, and foaming wear;”

name

1. A river in the counties of County Durham and Tyne and Wear, north east England. The cities of Durham and Sunderland are situated upon its grand banks.

   “The train then proceeded along the wagonway in the direction of the Wear.[…] The ladies remained at the house, while the men walked to the staith on the Wear, and were shown the process of unloading the wagons into the keels by means of the coal-drop.”