wearing him out

Meanings

1. 1phraseidiom

   Making someone feel extremely tired, especially by being demanding or difficult for a long time.

   Grammar: Comes from wear out; a pronoun object goes in the middle: she is wearing him out.

   Patterns

   • wear someone out
   • be worn out by someone
   • wearing someone out

   The twins are wearing him out — he falls asleep on the sofa every evening.

   All that shouting and arguing was wearing her out.

   Looking after three puppies is wearing me out.

2. 2phraseidiom

   Using something until it becomes thin, damaged, or no longer usable.

   Grammar: Same pattern: the object, especially a pronoun, sits between wear and out.

   Patterns

   • wear something out
   • wearing something out

   He keeps wearing his shoes out because he walks everywhere.

   The children have worn out the carpet in the hallway.

Common combinations

wear someone out completely

A whole day of shopping wears me out completely.

be worn out from doing something

She was worn out from working two jobs.

wear out your welcome

After a month, he began to wear out his welcome.

wear out a pair of shoes

I wear out a pair of shoes every year.

Synonyms and how they differ

exhaust

More neutral and often used about physical effort; wearing someone out suggests a slow, repeated drain.

tire

Slightly more formal and milder; wearing someone out is stronger and more informal.

drain

Focuses on using up someone's energy, not just making them sleepy.

Opposites

Word family

worn out adjective

Extremely tired, or too damaged to use any more.

wear verb

To have clothes on your body, or to damage something slowly through use.

wearisome adjective

Boring and tiring in a slow, annoying way.

Commonly confused: wearing him out or wearing off?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “wearing him out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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