attrit

present singular third person attrits · participle present attriting · participle present uncommon attritting · participle past attrited · past attrited · participle past uncommon attritted · past uncommon attritted · alternative attrite

1. To wear down through attrition, especially mechanical attrition.

   […] pebbles of vast size, or blocks of stone, attrited by water to smoothness, conjoined by a cement of mud.

   1858, James Prinsep, Essays on Indian Antiquities, Historic, Numismatic, and Palæographic, page 111

2. To engage in attrition; to quit or drop out.

   the relatives who had been helping slipped away as I grew older, attriting for various reasons that all amounted to the same reason.

   1997, Lisa Scottoline, Legal Tender, →ISBN, page 77

3. To be reduced in quantity through attrition.

   The interference theory of second language loss holds that forgetting is actually interference between the attriting language and the language replacing it.

   2001, Lynne Hansen, “Language Attrition in Contexts of Japanese Bilingualism”, in Studies in Japanese Bilingualism, →ISBN, page 359

4. governmentTo lose, or to kill, troops by attrition due to sustained firepower.

   The primary objective is to attrit the units sufficiently so that they cannot close with the units in contact.

   2001, John Matsumura, Lightning Over Water: Sharpening America's Light Forces for Rapid Missions, →ISBN, page 124

plural attrits · alternative attrite

1. countableOne who voluntarily or involuntarily leaves a company; a termed employee.

   Throughout the early part of the meeting, a human resources manager kept talking about “attrits," which we thought was some kind of financial product they were reducing or eliminating. It wasn't until she mentioned "minimizing severance options" that we realized she was talking about people.

   2009, Alan Weiss, Nancy MacKay, The Talent Advantage

   Synonyms: term