wear and tear

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛəɹ ən ˈtɛəɹ/

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wear and tear (uncountable)

1. Damage or depreciation resulting from ordinary use (normally as something excluded from a guarantee or warranty of quality, or as justifying a write-down in a set of accounts).

   The washing machine flooded the basement due to wear and tear, so Margaret was not eligible for insurance.

   • 1962 July, “Beyond the Channel: Switzerland: Increasing Swiss Federal route capacities”, in Modern Railways, page 58:

     The main obstacles to increasing traffic, in fact, are the heavy gradients and sharp curves on the approaches to the Gotthard Tunnel. Wear-and-tear of the track necessitates frequent attention by the civil engineers and possessions are hard to obtain without reducing the throughput of trains.

wear and tear (third-person singular simple present wears and tears, present participle wearing and tearing, simple past wore and tore, past participle worn and torn)

1. (transitive) To damage in this manner.
2. (intransitive) To be damaged in this manner.
   • 1962, Curtis Bok, Maria: a Tale of the Northeast Coast and of the North Atlantic (page 127)

     […] long john underwear, heavy socks, rubber boots, thick flannel shirts, oilskins — it all wore and tore and sprung holes from the hard use of battling storm and bad weather.

• tear and wear