Definition of attrition in English:

attrition

noun əˈtrɪʃ(ə)nəˈtrɪʃ(ə)n

mass noun

1The process of reducing something's strength or effectiveness through sustained attack or pressure.
（通过持久进攻或施压使力量或效果）削弱；消耗
the council is trying to wear down the opposition by attrition
政务会试图用消耗战的方法来削弱反对派。
the squadron suffered severe attrition of its bombers
飞行中队的轰炸机损耗严重。
Example sentencesExamples
- One hopes that the war will be quick, bloodless and easy and that we will not have to fight a long- drawn-out battle of attrition.
- The major difference in the nation's new military doctrine is that it is based on speed, rather than attrition.
- Research on graduate attrition shows that only 50 percent of Ph.D. students complete their degree.
- Despite the continuous debilitating attrition in the value and effectiveness of the UN, we hope that there may be at least one hope.
- Given the early attrition of this particular sample of program participants, the current study was not able to capture the experiences of youth who remained in the program for longer periods of time.
- No other army in the world would choose to sustain such an attrition rate.
- Guerrillas can lose battle after battle and yet still win the war, because guerrilla warfare is a form of attrition.
- Gallipoli was a brutal campaign of attrition, a bloody example of a war which was fought to the last man standing.
- The size of the study population decreased with increasing age, due, primarily, to attrition through mortality.
- Their game is a form of physical attrition of the opposition.
- His rank and age reflected the high pilot attrition rate we suffered early on in the battle.
- As long as the war was kept in that context, they could sustain the years of attrition.
- He notes that ‘They fight long attrition wars poorly, and short preemptive wars well.’
- Other studies find that some aspects of part-time instruction could be the causes of student attrition, which in turn affects the eventual transition into the workplace.
- You may build only within this zone, and enemies will suffer attrition damage inside it.
- Working in a law firm, your social life dies by attrition.
- He counted on air supremacy to allow his forces to reduce the communists by attrition, and he seemed to believe that UN ground forces could handle the survivors.
- They have greatly increased the fear that we are only at the beginning of an open-ended struggle of attrition with homegrown suicide bombers.
- That conflict had been dominated by slow-moving forces employing heavy firepower and waging a war of gradual attrition.
- Otherwise, I think the United States is going to continue to suffer this attrition in its moral authority and I think the price will be very high.
Synonyms
wearing down, wearing away, weakening, debilitation, enfeebling, sapping, attenuation
harassment, harrying
1. 1.1Australian, North American, NZ The gradual reduction of a workforce by employees leaving and not being replaced rather than by redundancy.
  〈主北美，澳/新西兰〉（不是因裁减冗员，而是因雇员流失却不补充而造成的）人员缩减
  the company said that it will reduce its worldwide employment by about 10% through attrition
  Example sentencesExamples
  After these meetings, our employee attrition rate dropped from 13 percent to 11 percent.
  Retirement was listed as the reason for 9.2% of the employee attrition.
  The three largest causes of attrition were contract termination, resignation and mortality.
  Steps like these have helped it shrink its workforce through attrition, from a peak of 804,000 in 1999 to 701,000 today.
  Studies on the retention of laboratory personnel have focused on the causes of employee attrition and strategies to promote retention.
  Studies of employee attrition across multiple disciplines would also be helpful in identifying common problems and shared solutions.
  He said they are committed to ensure that any reduction of staff will be achieved through a process of ‘natural attrition.’
  To that end, given the demographics of our workforce, we plan to achieve much of this reduction via attrition and early-retirement programs.
  Some of those job losses will come through natural attrition.
  The firm's staff numbers have been reduced through attrition - some departing employees have not been replaced and others have taken on new responsibilities.
  While he says there have been few layoffs at his firm, he's reducing head count through attrition.
  Under the agreement Eurotunnel is to shed 750 jobs from its 3,200-strong workforce through attrition and voluntary departures.
  Teachers are leaving on a daily basis through natural attrition.
  Staff shortages have dramatically increased workloads and according to a union spokesman, the overall numbers of postmen have been reduced every year since 1999 through a process of attrition.
  In addition, the carmakers will now be able to use attrition to scale back the workforce.
  Matthews also let attrition reduce his commission-based staff.
  For example, it's very common for unions to resist plans to reduce the workforce through attrition.
  Changes of this magnitude are more likely to occur through concentrated efforts to reduce the workforce than through attrition.
  This, combined with early retirement and natural attrition, could see relatively few staff being forced to exit compulsorily.
2. 1.2 Wearing away by friction; abrasion.
  磨损；摩擦
  the skull shows attrition of the edges of the teeth
  头骨显示出牙齿边缘有磨损。
  Example sentencesExamples
  Further, X-rays showed there was no deposit of secondary dentine as would have been expected if the abrasion had been due to natural attrition before death.
  There is no gold found more perfect than this, as the current polishes it thoroughly by attrition.
  In this hypothesis, the silts form by aeolian abrasion and attrition of sand grains and by rock-weathering processes.
  Teeth may be damaged by dental caries, trauma, erosion, attrition, and abrasion or lost through periodontal disease.
  Ice sheet attrition appears to have accelerated recently, making its contribution more significant in the 1990s.
  The advantage of this system is that if the external render is damaged - by the elements or enemy attack - attrition is restricted to specific layers and does not spread to the layers above or below.
  Mechanical attrition processes often involve ball milling in various machines and environments.
  Needless to say, there is nothing pleasurable about the ailments caused by muscle attrition or a lack of bone density.
  Synonyms
  abrasion, friction, rubbing, chafing, corroding, corrosion, erosion, eating away, grinding, scraping, wearing away, wearing, excoriation, deterioration, damaging
  rare detrition
2(in scholastic theology) sorrow for sin, falling short of contrition.
（经院神学理论用语）不彻底的忏悔
Example sentencesExamples
- I should mention before I go through with this final act of attrition that if I misbehaved so egregiously over the past year, it must certainly reflect negatively on you both as parents.

Derivatives

attritional

adjective

Runs were scored in slow, attritional fashion throughout.
Example sentencesExamples
- The game took a decidedly attritional approach from the beginning.
- This will be a very hard, attritional war, and there will be casualties.
- The attritional nature of the campaign, and the failed air lift to supply the Sixth Army are well covered.
- The war would be waged as an attritional struggle against the occupying forces.

Origin

Late Middle English (in sense 2): from late Latin attritio(n-), from atterere 'to rub'.

Definition of attrition in US English:

attrition

nounəˈtrɪʃ(ə)nəˈtriSH(ə)n

1The action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure.
（通过持久进攻或施压使力量或效果）削弱；消耗
the council is trying to wear down the opposition by attrition
政务会试图用消耗战的方法来削弱反对派。
the squadron suffered severe attrition of its bombers
飞行中队的轰炸机损耗严重。
Example sentencesExamples
- Otherwise, I think the United States is going to continue to suffer this attrition in its moral authority and I think the price will be very high.
- Research on graduate attrition shows that only 50 percent of Ph.D. students complete their degree.
- Their game is a form of physical attrition of the opposition.
- Given the early attrition of this particular sample of program participants, the current study was not able to capture the experiences of youth who remained in the program for longer periods of time.
- One hopes that the war will be quick, bloodless and easy and that we will not have to fight a long- drawn-out battle of attrition.
- The major difference in the nation's new military doctrine is that it is based on speed, rather than attrition.
- Gallipoli was a brutal campaign of attrition, a bloody example of a war which was fought to the last man standing.
- As long as the war was kept in that context, they could sustain the years of attrition.
- Guerrillas can lose battle after battle and yet still win the war, because guerrilla warfare is a form of attrition.
- You may build only within this zone, and enemies will suffer attrition damage inside it.
- His rank and age reflected the high pilot attrition rate we suffered early on in the battle.
- Despite the continuous debilitating attrition in the value and effectiveness of the UN, we hope that there may be at least one hope.
- He notes that ‘They fight long attrition wars poorly, and short preemptive wars well.’
- That conflict had been dominated by slow-moving forces employing heavy firepower and waging a war of gradual attrition.
- The size of the study population decreased with increasing age, due, primarily, to attrition through mortality.
- No other army in the world would choose to sustain such an attrition rate.
- Other studies find that some aspects of part-time instruction could be the causes of student attrition, which in turn affects the eventual transition into the workplace.
- Working in a law firm, your social life dies by attrition.
- They have greatly increased the fear that we are only at the beginning of an open-ended struggle of attrition with homegrown suicide bombers.
- He counted on air supremacy to allow his forces to reduce the communists by attrition, and he seemed to believe that UN ground forces could handle the survivors.
Synonyms
wearing down, wearing away, weakening, debilitation, enfeebling, sapping, attenuation
1. 1.1North American, Australian, NZ The gradual reduction of a workforce by employees' leaving and not being replaced rather than by their being laid off.
  〈主北美，澳/新西兰〉（不是因裁减冗员，而是因雇员流失却不补充而造成的）人员缩减
  with so few retirements since March, the year's attrition was insignificant
  Example sentencesExamples
  He said they are committed to ensure that any reduction of staff will be achieved through a process of ‘natural attrition.’
  To that end, given the demographics of our workforce, we plan to achieve much of this reduction via attrition and early-retirement programs.
  The firm's staff numbers have been reduced through attrition - some departing employees have not been replaced and others have taken on new responsibilities.
  While he says there have been few layoffs at his firm, he's reducing head count through attrition.
  The three largest causes of attrition were contract termination, resignation and mortality.
  Retirement was listed as the reason for 9.2% of the employee attrition.
  Studies on the retention of laboratory personnel have focused on the causes of employee attrition and strategies to promote retention.
  Steps like these have helped it shrink its workforce through attrition, from a peak of 804,000 in 1999 to 701,000 today.
  Under the agreement Eurotunnel is to shed 750 jobs from its 3,200-strong workforce through attrition and voluntary departures.
  Some of those job losses will come through natural attrition.
  Changes of this magnitude are more likely to occur through concentrated efforts to reduce the workforce than through attrition.
  In addition, the carmakers will now be able to use attrition to scale back the workforce.
  Matthews also let attrition reduce his commission-based staff.
  Teachers are leaving on a daily basis through natural attrition.
  After these meetings, our employee attrition rate dropped from 13 percent to 11 percent.
  Staff shortages have dramatically increased workloads and according to a union spokesman, the overall numbers of postmen have been reduced every year since 1999 through a process of attrition.
  This, combined with early retirement and natural attrition, could see relatively few staff being forced to exit compulsorily.
  For example, it's very common for unions to resist plans to reduce the workforce through attrition.
  Studies of employee attrition across multiple disciplines would also be helpful in identifying common problems and shared solutions.
2. 1.2 Wearing away by friction; abrasion.
  磨损；摩擦
  the skull shows attrition of the edges of the teeth
  头骨显示出牙齿边缘有磨损。
  Example sentencesExamples
  The advantage of this system is that if the external render is damaged - by the elements or enemy attack - attrition is restricted to specific layers and does not spread to the layers above or below.
  Teeth may be damaged by dental caries, trauma, erosion, attrition, and abrasion or lost through periodontal disease.
  Needless to say, there is nothing pleasurable about the ailments caused by muscle attrition or a lack of bone density.
  In this hypothesis, the silts form by aeolian abrasion and attrition of sand grains and by rock-weathering processes.
  Ice sheet attrition appears to have accelerated recently, making its contribution more significant in the 1990s.
  There is no gold found more perfect than this, as the current polishes it thoroughly by attrition.
  Mechanical attrition processes often involve ball milling in various machines and environments.
  Further, X-rays showed there was no deposit of secondary dentine as would have been expected if the abrasion had been due to natural attrition before death.
  Synonyms
  abrasion, friction, rubbing, chafing, corroding, corrosion, erosion, eating away, grinding, scraping, wearing away, wearing, excoriation, deterioration, damaging
2(in scholastic theology) sorrow, but not contrition, for sin.
（经院神学理论用语）不彻底的忏悔
Example sentencesExamples
- I should mention before I go through with this final act of attrition that if I misbehaved so egregiously over the past year, it must certainly reflect negatively on you both as parents.

Origin

Late Middle English (in attrition (sense 2)): from late Latin attritio(n-), from atterere ‘to rub’.

词汇	attrition
释义	Definition of attrition in English: attrition noun əˈtrɪʃ(ə)nəˈtrɪʃ(ə)n mass noun 1The process of reducing something's strength or effectiveness through sustained attack or pressure. （通过持久进攻或施压使力量或效果）削弱；消耗 the council is trying to wear down the opposition by attrition 政务会试图用消耗战的方法来削弱反对派。 the squadron suffered severe attrition of its bombers 飞行中队的轰炸机损耗严重。 Example sentencesExamples One hopes that the war will be quick, bloodless and easy and that we will not have to fight a long- drawn-out battle of attrition. The major difference in the nation's new military doctrine is that it is based on speed, rather than attrition. Research on graduate attrition shows that only 50 percent of Ph.D. students complete their degree. Despite the continuous debilitating attrition in the value and effectiveness of the UN, we hope that there may be at least one hope. Given the early attrition of this particular sample of program participants, the current study was not able to capture the experiences of youth who remained in the program for longer periods of time. No other army in the world would choose to sustain such an attrition rate. Guerrillas can lose battle after battle and yet still win the war, because guerrilla warfare is a form of attrition. Gallipoli was a brutal campaign of attrition, a bloody example of a war which was fought to the last man standing. The size of the study population decreased with increasing age, due, primarily, to attrition through mortality. Their game is a form of physical attrition of the opposition. His rank and age reflected the high pilot attrition rate we suffered early on in the battle. As long as the war was kept in that context, they could sustain the years of attrition. He notes that ‘They fight long attrition wars poorly, and short preemptive wars well.’ Other studies find that some aspects of part-time instruction could be the causes of student attrition, which in turn affects the eventual transition into the workplace. You may build only within this zone, and enemies will suffer attrition damage inside it. Working in a law firm, your social life dies by attrition. He counted on air supremacy to allow his forces to reduce the communists by attrition, and he seemed to believe that UN ground forces could handle the survivors. They have greatly increased the fear that we are only at the beginning of an open-ended struggle of attrition with homegrown suicide bombers. That conflict had been dominated by slow-moving forces employing heavy firepower and waging a war of gradual attrition. Otherwise, I think the United States is going to continue to suffer this attrition in its moral authority and I think the price will be very high. Synonyms wearing down, wearing away, weakening, debilitation, enfeebling, sapping, attenuation harassment, harrying 1.1Australian, North American, NZ The gradual reduction of a workforce by employees leaving and not being replaced rather than by redundancy. 〈主北美，澳/新西兰〉（不是因裁减冗员，而是因雇员流失却不补充而造成的）人员缩减 the company said that it will reduce its worldwide employment by about 10% through attrition Example sentencesExamples After these meetings, our employee attrition rate dropped from 13 percent to 11 percent. Retirement was listed as the reason for 9.2% of the employee attrition. The three largest causes of attrition were contract termination, resignation and mortality. Steps like these have helped it shrink its workforce through attrition, from a peak of 804,000 in 1999 to 701,000 today. Studies on the retention of laboratory personnel have focused on the causes of employee attrition and strategies to promote retention. Studies of employee attrition across multiple disciplines would also be helpful in identifying common problems and shared solutions. He said they are committed to ensure that any reduction of staff will be achieved through a process of ‘natural attrition.’ To that end, given the demographics of our workforce, we plan to achieve much of this reduction via attrition and early-retirement programs. Some of those job losses will come through natural attrition. The firm's staff numbers have been reduced through attrition - some departing employees have not been replaced and others have taken on new responsibilities. While he says there have been few layoffs at his firm, he's reducing head count through attrition. Under the agreement Eurotunnel is to shed 750 jobs from its 3,200-strong workforce through attrition and voluntary departures. Teachers are leaving on a daily basis through natural attrition. Staff shortages have dramatically increased workloads and according to a union spokesman, the overall numbers of postmen have been reduced every year since 1999 through a process of attrition. In addition, the carmakers will now be able to use attrition to scale back the workforce. Matthews also let attrition reduce his commission-based staff. For example, it's very common for unions to resist plans to reduce the workforce through attrition. Changes of this magnitude are more likely to occur through concentrated efforts to reduce the workforce than through attrition. This, combined with early retirement and natural attrition, could see relatively few staff being forced to exit compulsorily. 1.2 Wearing away by friction; abrasion. 磨损；摩擦 the skull shows attrition of the edges of the teeth 头骨显示出牙齿边缘有磨损。 Example sentencesExamples Further, X-rays showed there was no deposit of secondary dentine as would have been expected if the abrasion had been due to natural attrition before death. There is no gold found more perfect than this, as the current polishes it thoroughly by attrition. In this hypothesis, the silts form by aeolian abrasion and attrition of sand grains and by rock-weathering processes. Teeth may be damaged by dental caries, trauma, erosion, attrition, and abrasion or lost through periodontal disease. Ice sheet attrition appears to have accelerated recently, making its contribution more significant in the 1990s. The advantage of this system is that if the external render is damaged - by the elements or enemy attack - attrition is restricted to specific layers and does not spread to the layers above or below. Mechanical attrition processes often involve ball milling in various machines and environments. Needless to say, there is nothing pleasurable about the ailments caused by muscle attrition or a lack of bone density. Synonyms abrasion, friction, rubbing, chafing, corroding, corrosion, erosion, eating away, grinding, scraping, wearing away, wearing, excoriation, deterioration, damaging rare detrition 2(in scholastic theology) sorrow for sin, falling short of contrition. （经院神学理论用语）不彻底的忏悔 Example sentencesExamples I should mention before I go through with this final act of attrition that if I misbehaved so egregiously over the past year, it must certainly reflect negatively on you both as parents. Derivatives attritional adjective Runs were scored in slow, attritional fashion throughout. Example sentencesExamples The game took a decidedly attritional approach from the beginning. This will be a very hard, attritional war, and there will be casualties. The attritional nature of the campaign, and the failed air lift to supply the Sixth Army are well covered. The war would be waged as an attritional struggle against the occupying forces. Origin Late Middle English (in sense 2): from late Latin attritio(n-), from atterere 'to rub'. Definition of attrition in US English: attrition nounəˈtrɪʃ(ə)nəˈtriSH(ə)n 1The action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure. （通过持久进攻或施压使力量或效果）削弱；消耗 the council is trying to wear down the opposition by attrition 政务会试图用消耗战的方法来削弱反对派。 the squadron suffered severe attrition of its bombers 飞行中队的轰炸机损耗严重。 Example sentencesExamples Otherwise, I think the United States is going to continue to suffer this attrition in its moral authority and I think the price will be very high. Research on graduate attrition shows that only 50 percent of Ph.D. students complete their degree. Their game is a form of physical attrition of the opposition. Given the early attrition of this particular sample of program participants, the current study was not able to capture the experiences of youth who remained in the program for longer periods of time. One hopes that the war will be quick, bloodless and easy and that we will not have to fight a long- drawn-out battle of attrition. The major difference in the nation's new military doctrine is that it is based on speed, rather than attrition. Gallipoli was a brutal campaign of attrition, a bloody example of a war which was fought to the last man standing. As long as the war was kept in that context, they could sustain the years of attrition. Guerrillas can lose battle after battle and yet still win the war, because guerrilla warfare is a form of attrition. You may build only within this zone, and enemies will suffer attrition damage inside it. His rank and age reflected the high pilot attrition rate we suffered early on in the battle. Despite the continuous debilitating attrition in the value and effectiveness of the UN, we hope that there may be at least one hope. He notes that ‘They fight long attrition wars poorly, and short preemptive wars well.’ That conflict had been dominated by slow-moving forces employing heavy firepower and waging a war of gradual attrition. The size of the study population decreased with increasing age, due, primarily, to attrition through mortality. No other army in the world would choose to sustain such an attrition rate. Other studies find that some aspects of part-time instruction could be the causes of student attrition, which in turn affects the eventual transition into the workplace. Working in a law firm, your social life dies by attrition. They have greatly increased the fear that we are only at the beginning of an open-ended struggle of attrition with homegrown suicide bombers. He counted on air supremacy to allow his forces to reduce the communists by attrition, and he seemed to believe that UN ground forces could handle the survivors. Synonyms wearing down, wearing away, weakening, debilitation, enfeebling, sapping, attenuation 1.1North American, Australian, NZ The gradual reduction of a workforce by employees' leaving and not being replaced rather than by their being laid off. 〈主北美，澳/新西兰〉（不是因裁减冗员，而是因雇员流失却不补充而造成的）人员缩减 with so few retirements since March, the year's attrition was insignificant Example sentencesExamples He said they are committed to ensure that any reduction of staff will be achieved through a process of ‘natural attrition.’ To that end, given the demographics of our workforce, we plan to achieve much of this reduction via attrition and early-retirement programs. The firm's staff numbers have been reduced through attrition - some departing employees have not been replaced and others have taken on new responsibilities. While he says there have been few layoffs at his firm, he's reducing head count through attrition. The three largest causes of attrition were contract termination, resignation and mortality. Retirement was listed as the reason for 9.2% of the employee attrition. Studies on the retention of laboratory personnel have focused on the causes of employee attrition and strategies to promote retention. Steps like these have helped it shrink its workforce through attrition, from a peak of 804,000 in 1999 to 701,000 today. Under the agreement Eurotunnel is to shed 750 jobs from its 3,200-strong workforce through attrition and voluntary departures. Some of those job losses will come through natural attrition. Changes of this magnitude are more likely to occur through concentrated efforts to reduce the workforce than through attrition. In addition, the carmakers will now be able to use attrition to scale back the workforce. Matthews also let attrition reduce his commission-based staff. Teachers are leaving on a daily basis through natural attrition. After these meetings, our employee attrition rate dropped from 13 percent to 11 percent. Staff shortages have dramatically increased workloads and according to a union spokesman, the overall numbers of postmen have been reduced every year since 1999 through a process of attrition. This, combined with early retirement and natural attrition, could see relatively few staff being forced to exit compulsorily. For example, it's very common for unions to resist plans to reduce the workforce through attrition. Studies of employee attrition across multiple disciplines would also be helpful in identifying common problems and shared solutions. 1.2 Wearing away by friction; abrasion. 磨损；摩擦 the skull shows attrition of the edges of the teeth 头骨显示出牙齿边缘有磨损。 Example sentencesExamples The advantage of this system is that if the external render is damaged - by the elements or enemy attack - attrition is restricted to specific layers and does not spread to the layers above or below. Teeth may be damaged by dental caries, trauma, erosion, attrition, and abrasion or lost through periodontal disease. Needless to say, there is nothing pleasurable about the ailments caused by muscle attrition or a lack of bone density. In this hypothesis, the silts form by aeolian abrasion and attrition of sand grains and by rock-weathering processes. Ice sheet attrition appears to have accelerated recently, making its contribution more significant in the 1990s. There is no gold found more perfect than this, as the current polishes it thoroughly by attrition. Mechanical attrition processes often involve ball milling in various machines and environments. Further, X-rays showed there was no deposit of secondary dentine as would have been expected if the abrasion had been due to natural attrition before death. Synonyms abrasion, friction, rubbing, chafing, corroding, corrosion, erosion, eating away, grinding, scraping, wearing away, wearing, excoriation, deterioration, damaging 2(in scholastic theology) sorrow, but not contrition, for sin. （经院神学理论用语）不彻底的忏悔 Example sentencesExamples I should mention before I go through with this final act of attrition that if I misbehaved so egregiously over the past year, it must certainly reflect negatively on you both as parents. Origin Late Middle English (in attrition (sense 2)): from late Latin attritio(n-), from atterere ‘to rub’.
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