Definition of "attrition"

attrition

/əˈtɹɪʃən/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural attritions
1. Grinding down or wearing away by friction.
2. The gradual reduction in a tangible or intangible resource due to causes that are passive and do not involve productive use of the resource.
3. (human resources) A gradual, natural reduction in membership or personnel, as through injury, incapacitation, retirement, resignation, or death.
4. (sciences) The loss of participants during an experiment.
5. (theology) Imperfect contrition or remorse.
6. (dentistry) The wearing of teeth due to their grinding.
7. (linguistics) The loss of a first or second language or a portion of that language.
verb
third-person singular simple present attritions, present participle attritioning, simple past and past participle attritioned
1. (transitive) To grind or wear down through friction.
  Quotations
  […] He took her in his armsAnd kissed her long and wetly,Till, attritioned by her charms,His will collapsed completely.
  1989, Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel‎, New York: Arcade, Book 9, p. 189
2. (transitive) To reduce the number of (jobs or workers) by not hiring new employees to fill positions that become vacant (often with out).
  Quotations
  […] but the heart of the health services in New York will have to attrition out some 3,000 to 5,000 jobs.
  1973, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education, Hearings, page 186
  […] expenses can be cut, by attritioning faculty vacancies […]
  1989, Herbert S. White, “The Future of Library and Information Science Education”, in Librarians and the Awakening from Innocence,‎, Boston: G.K. Hall, page 86
3. (intransitive) To undergo a reduction in number.

Definition of "attrition"

attrition

noun

verb

Quotations

Quotations