as in erosion
a gradual weakening, loss, or destruction
took the machinery out of operation since attrition had led to the main mechanism's breaking
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Recent Examples of attrition
Coach Kyle Shanahan's call for a trick-play pass from receiver Jauan Jennings to McCaffrey for a 29-yard touchdown to take the lead in the fourth quarter reflected this team's incredible resourcefulness during a season marked by attrition.
—
Mike Sando, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2026
There’s an element of attrition to the operations, DiMaria says.
—Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 12 Jan. 2026
In this sense, Taiwan plans on conducting a Ukraine-style attrition warfare.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 10 Jan. 2026
Advertisement Happily, there hasn’t been much other attrition at the Pitt.
—Judy Berman, Time, 8 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for attrition
Recent Examples of Synonyms for attrition
erosion
Noun
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The house that burned was one small piece of a larger unraveling — the erosion not just of walls but of trust.—
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On a remote island in the Chesapeake Bay, a deeply rooted Christian fishing community confronts the erosion of land and tradition, as their centuries-old way of life, anchored in faith, approaches a turning point.—
Cite this Entry
“Attrition.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/attrition. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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