attrition
/əˈtrɪʃən/noun
mass noun
1
- the 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。
1.1
- chiefly N. Amer. & Austral./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。
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。
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。
派生词
attritional
adjective词源
late Middle English (in sense 2)： from late Latin attritio（n-）， from atterere 'to rub'.