Wear and tear
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
Damage, deterioration or strain caused by ordinary, repeated use rather than by a single accident. Common in leases, warranties and insurance policies, where normal wear and tear may be specifically excluded. It can also describe cumulative physical or emotional strain. Regional use: Seventeenth-century English; now international English.
Origin
Wear and tear combines related but not identical kinds of deterioration: gradual wearing away and damage from repeated strain or use. Dictionaries record the fixed rhyming pair in the 1660s, with Merriam-Webster giving 1666 and the Online Etymology Dictionary placing it broadly in that decade. The expression became especially useful for ordinary depreciation of objects and property. Later writers extended it to physical and emotional strain, but those wider applications should not be projected automatically onto the earliest records.
Research Sources
Variants
- Normal wear and tear
Usage Examples
- The landlord cannot charge the tenant for normal wear and tear to the carpet.
- Daily deliveries put considerable wear and tear on the van's suspension.
- Years of night shifts caused visible wear and tear on the whole team.