Dictionary

war of attrition en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

1. A prolonged war in which the warring sides try to defeat their opponents by wearing them out.
   • So far, soldiers on the front lines said they had seen little evidence of escalation beyond this largely slow-moving war of attrition. 2021 December 6, Michael Schwirtz, “On Ukrainian Front, Grinding War and Weary Anticipation of Invasion”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • The Site Director was expected to initiate DISCIDIUM Protocol should the situation become untenable; so far as remote observation of the remains of Ipperwash Park above can show, this was not done. Transmissions are occasionally intercepted from the Site, and after memetic 'washing' by RAISA have been determined to originate from uncompromised personnel conducting a war of attrition against the above-mentioned entities. It is from their reports that the majority of this information, save for that regarding SCP-001-A, has been derived. As an understanding of each entity may aid in the defeat of SCP-001-A, no action has been taken to remove Site-43 from operational effectiveness. 2023 October 6, HarryBlank, “Executive Dysfunction”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 26 May 2024:
   • A bullet for your war of attrition And your exploitation of the human condition 2021, Gerald Casale, Josh Freese, Josh Hager, Steve Bartek, “I'm Gonna Pay U Back”, in I'm Gonna Pay U Back, performed by DEVO's Gerald V. Casale:
2. (figuratively) A situation in which opponents try to overcome each other by wearing them out.

Forms

Relateds

Pyrrhic victory

Synonyms

attrition warfare

Translations (39)

fi näännytyssota (prolonged exhausting war) · nb utmattelseskrig (prolonged exhausting war) · mk војна на трошење (prolonged exhausting war) · he מִלְחֶמֶת הַתָּשָׁה \ מלחמת התשה (prolonged exhausting war) · cmn 消耗戰 /消耗战 (prolonged exhausting war) · ga cogadh tnáite (prolonged exhausting war) · ko 소모전 (prolonged exhausting war) · ja 消耗戦 (prolonged exhausting war) · be вайна́ на знясі́ленне (prolonged exhausting war) · et kurnamissõda (prolonged exhausting war) · vi chiến tranh tiêu hao (prolonged exhausting war) · ca guerra de desgast (prolonged exhausting war) · cy rhyfel athreuliol (prolonged exhausting war) · uk війна́ на ви́снаження (prolonged exhausting war) · de Abnutzungskrieg (prolonged exhausting war) · sv utmattningskrig (prolonged exhausting war) · pt guerra de desgaste (prolonged exhausting war) · lv izsīkuma karš (prolonged exhausting war) · tr yıpratma savaşı (prolonged exhausting war) · ru война́ на истоще́ние (prolonged exhausting war) · fi uuvutussota (prolonged exhausting war) · es guerra de atrición (prolonged exhausting war) · fi kulutussota (prolonged exhausting war) · fr guerre d'attrition (prolonged exhausting war) · cmn 摩擦戰 /摩擦战 (prolonged exhausting war) · sv utnötningskrig (prolonged exhausting war) · sk opotrebovávacia vojna (prolonged exhausting war) · fr guerre d'usure (prolonged exhausting war) · it guerra di logoramento (prolonged exhausting war) · nl uitputtingsoorlog (prolonged exhausting war) · es guerra de desgaste (prolonged exhausting war) · da udmattelseskrig (prolonged exhausting war) · ar حَرْب اِسْتِنْزاف (prolonged exhausting war) · bg война́ на изтоще́ние (prolonged exhausting war) · pl wojna na wyczerpanie (prolonged exhausting war) · cs opotřebovávací válka (prolonged exhausting war) · ro război de uzură (prolonged exhausting war) · de Zermürbungskrieg (prolonged exhausting war) · fa جنگ فرسایشی (prolonged exhausting war)