Also 5 were, 6–7 weare, 7–8 ware. [f. WEAR v.1]
I. 1. The action of wearing or carrying on the person (an article of clothing, an ornament, a watch, sword, or the like); the condition or fact of being worn or carried upon the person.
1464. Rolls of Parlt., V. 567/2. The best and lightest Tymbre to make of Patyns and Clogges, and moost esiest for the were of all estate.
16[?]. Bell wy Wiffe, 26, in Percy Fol. MS., II. 323. My cloake itt was a verry good cloake, it hath beene alwayes good to the weare.
1713. Steele, Guardian, No. 170, ¶ 16. ’Tis a Demonstration, that they have more [Woollen Goods] than is sufficient for their own Wear.
1716. J. Perry, State Russia, 74. The wear of Furs is a great Fashion in China.
1757. [Burke], Europ. Settlem. Amer., VII. v. II. 161. I have seen cloths made there, which … were … as far as I could judge, superior for the ordinary wear of country people, to any thing we make in England.
1818. Min. Evid. Committee Ribbon Weavers, 178. Every one who visits France brings over some [articles of manufactured silk] for their own wear.
1903. R. Barr, Over Border, I. vi. 66. His costume, which hung, loosely unfitting, about a frame that had become gaunt since its wear began.
1912. Daily Graphic, 31 Dec., 13/2. A charming coat for restaurant wear.
b. The worse for wear: deteriorated through wearing. (Cf. WEARING vbl. sb.1 2.)
1782. Cowper, Gilpin, 183. A hat not much the worse for wear.
1840. ‘Ouida,’ Moths, I. ii. 32. The statuette … never seemed the worse for wear.
† c. Use, the using or making use (of a utensil).
1571. Aldeburgh Rec., in N. & Q., 12th Ser. VII. 185/1. For ye wear of a kettil and a trevet xiid.
2. Phr. To be in wear. a. Of an article of clothing, an ornament, etc.: To be actually on the person of the wearer; also, to be (still) habitually worn by a person, not to have been discarded. Similarly (of a person), to have in wear. b. Of a kind or style of garment, etc.: To be worn by people generally; to be in vogue or fashion. Similarly, to come into wear.
1786. Mrs. A. M. Bennett, Juvenile Indiscr., III. 106. Sophia, do you know patches are coming into wear again?
1799. Washington, Lett., Writ. 1893, XIV. 150. If there are any handsome cockades (but not whimsically foolish) in wear,… I should be glad if they were sent with the eagles fixed thereon.
1809. W. Irving, Knickerb., II. ii. (1849), 92. Several gigantic knee-buckles of massy silver are still in wear, that made gallant display in the days of the patriarchs of Communipaw.
1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, II. 33/1. If there be any part of silk in a dress not suitable for any of these purposes it is wasted, or what is accounted wasted, although it may have been in wear for years.
1855. Dickens, Holly-Tree, i. The lesser roadside Inns of Italy; where all the dirty clothes in the house (not in wear) are always lying in your anteroom.
fig. 1704. Swift, Mech. Operat. Spir., Misc. (1711), 274. Now, Sir, to proceed after the Method in present Wear.
1853. Dickens, Bleak Ho., xix. Assuredly that shield and buckler of Britannia are not in present wear.
3. What one wears or should wear; the thing or things worn or proper to be worn at a particular time or in certain circumstances.
1570. Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1576), 12. Makers of coloured woollen clothes … from whome is drawne … sufficient stoare to furnishe the weare of the best sort of our owne nation.
1581. A. Hall, Iliad, X. 180. And without crest or plume at all his morian on [he] doth pull, Of bullish hyde, a yong mans weare, men do it call a scul.
1599. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Rev., I. iv. Amo. Your ribband too do’s most gracefully, in troth. Aso. Tis the most gentile, and receiu’d weare now, sir.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., II. vii. 34. Motley’s the onely weare. Ibid. (1611), Wint. T., IV. iv. 327. Will you buy … Any Silke, any Thred, any Toyes for your head Of the news’t and fins’t, fins’t weare-a.
1619. Fletcher, Knt. Malta, II. i. What’s in that pack there? 1 Sold. ’Tis English Cloth. Nor. That’s a good wear indeed, Both strong, and rich.
16[?]. Cleveland, News fr. Newcastle, 130, Wks. (1687), 290. Our Wear’s plain Out-side, but is richly lin’d.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 257/2. It is a wear amongst little Children with us to this day.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., II. 166. A particular kind of flowered and striped lawns, which are a cheap and fashionable wear.
1812. W. Taylor, in Monthly Mag., XXXIII. 229. It has occasionally been questioned whether hats or turbans were the prevailing wear.
1860. Thackeray, Round. Papers, Ribbons (1876), 18. The Great Duke’s theory was … that for common people your plain coat without stars and ribbons, was the most sensible wear.
1865. in G. Hill, Hist. Dress (1893), II. 261. Little insects of all kinds, especially flies, are good wear in bonnets.
1885. Manch. Exam., 5 June, 5/6. Their cotton gowns are much cooler wear in the broiling weather of the present week than the warm Welsh woollens.
1902. Times, 29 July, 11/3. The makers of ready-made clothing, mantles, jackets, &c., are fairly well supplied with orders, men’s wear excepted.
b. transf. and fig.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., III. ii. 78. Clo. I hope Sir, your good Worship wil be my baile? Luc. No indeed will not Pompey, it is not the wear.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., V. 829. Hence burly corpulence Is his familiar wear, and sleek disguise.
1847. L. Hunt, Men, Women, & B., I. xiv. 232. Meeting one day with a lovely face that had flaxen locks about it, we thought for a good while after, that flaxen was your only wear.
1876. C. L. Smith, Tasso’s Jerus. Delivered, III. vii. Each from his head removes the bauble there Of silk or gold,… Each doffs too from his heart its haughty wear.
4. a. Capacity for being worn or for further advantageous use.
1699. Boyer, Royal Dict., Eng.-Fr., s.v., A Stuff of good Wear, une Etoffe d’un bon usé.
1881. Punch, 26 Feb., 94/1. The shoe that has still wear in it.
1901. Alldridge, Sherbro, xxviii. 339. The native-made cloths … of never-ending wear.
b. Advantage of continued wearing.
1836. [Hooton], Bilberry Thurland, ii. I. 35. I’ve had more wear out of this one waistcoat, than any hafe dozen agen.
II. 5. The process or condition of being worn or gradually reduced in bulk or impaired in quality by continued use, friction, attrition, exposure to atmospheric or other natural destructive agencies; loss or diminution of substance or deterioration of quality due to these causes.
1729. [T. Prior], Observ. Coin (1856), 305. This Scarcity will be farther increased by the Wear of Silver Coins, which has lessened their Weights considerably.
1730. Conduitt, Observ. Coins (1774), 51. The telling money on wood, especially with a mixture of sand, very much encreases the wear.
1791. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 321. I then saw the coast was in a state of wear.
1797. Monthly Mag., III. 546. The foundation should be covered to the depth that is necessary to sustain the wear to which the road is subject.
1869. F. Kohn, Iron & Steel Manuf., 90. The saw, not being constantly in use, is driven by an independent engine to save the wear of its bearings.
1891. W. H. Flower, Horse, iii. 115. The shape of the table alters as the wear of the tooth proceeds.
1894. A. M. Bell, in Jrnl. Anthrop. Inst., XXIII. 273. So also with surface finds; if they possess definite characteristics of form, of wear, of weather,… of position when found, each of which places them in a class by themselves.
b. transf. and fig.
1882. Spurgeon, Treas. Dav., Ps. cxix. 20. VI. 51. They [sc. desires for holiness] cause a wear of heart, a straining of the mind.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 311. Those who … are already showing signs of wear in their nervous systems.
6. Wear and tear, wearing or damage due to ordinary usage; deterioration in the condition of a thing through constant use or service. Also (less usual) tear and wear: see TEAR sb.2 1.
1666. Pepys, Diary, 29 Sept. The wages, victuals, wear and tear, cast by the medium of the men, will come to above £3,000,000.
1691. T. H[ale], Acc. New Invent., 119. Wear and tear of Ground-Tackle.
1699. Luttrell, Brief Rel., IV. 595. Allowing 4l. a man per mensem for ware and tear, charge of the ordnance included.
1702. Savery, Miner’s Friend, 64. A Work … that cost forty-two shillings per diem … besides Ware and Tare of Engines.
1776. Adam Smith, W. N., IV. ix. (1869), II. 249. The wear and tear of the implements of husbandry.
1835. Marryat, J. Faithful, i. A pair of shoes may have lasted her for five years, for the wear and tear that she took out of them.
1839. Stonehouse, Axholme, 46. It is difficult to calculate the daily wear and tear of four horses, straining through the thick mud, breaking the gears, and almost pulling the waggon to pieces.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Wear and Tear, the decay and deterioration of the hull, spars, sails, ropes, and other stores of a ship in the course of a voyage.
1868. Stanley, Westm. Abb. (ed. 2), 508. The wear-and-tear of four centuries … had rendered this venerable building quite unfit for its purpose.
1902. Act 2 Edw. VII., c. 42 § 7 (d). Such damage as the local authority consider to be due to fair wear and tear in the use of any room in the school house.
b. transf. and fig.
1678. Butler, Hud., III. i. 1182. That in return would pay th’expence, The Wear-and-tear of Conscience.
1775. Johnson, in Boswell (1791), I. 515. You are not to wonder at that; no man’s face has had more wear and tear.
1806. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life, ii. § 31. There is not a whit less wear and tear to the nerves.
1828. Macaulay, Ess., Hallam (1897), 89. Mr. Hallam … scarcely makes a sufficient allowance for the wear and tear which honesty almost necessarily sustains in the friction of political life.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxv. Unequal to the wear and tear of daily life, as he had often professed himself to be.
1881. M. Arnold, Ess. Crit., Ser. II. vi. (1888), 166. Nay, I doubt whether his [Shelley’s] delightful Essays and Letters … will not resist the wear and tear of time better … than his poetry.
7. Pugilism. (See quots.)
1819. Sporting Mag., N. S. III. 231. It was who should stay upon the wear-out game in the rain the longest.
1832. P. Egan’s Bk. Sports, 45/1. Bravo, Neal—he must win it—he has too much wear-and-tear for Gaynor.
III. 8. The anterior surface of the lower part of the mouth of a carpenter’s plane.
185[?]. Tomlinson’s Cycl. Useful Arts, II. 318/2. The narrow opening between the face of the iron and the line m w′ is termed the mouth of the plane; the line m w′ is called the wear: the angle between the mouth and the wear should be as small as possible, so that as the sole wears away,… the mouth may not be too much enlarged.
