What is "worn thin"

Usage examples of "worn thin".

Bits of tin worn thin by my drumming broke off, fell inside the drum, and at every beat set up a disgruntled clatter of their own.

Regis, who rarely raised his voice, had shouted a number of times in Mikhail's hearing, and he knew that his patience must be worn thin.

Ragged, hungry, their tattered caribou-hide clothing worn thin, they marched into the wind.

Matern, who in his innermost soul is still arguing with the pocketknife, refuses to burden his memory with unpronounceable Gypsy names and to appraise a silver ring that has been worn thin.

After her ordeal, with its life-and-death struggles, nothing as insignificant as a reprimand, whose effectiveness had long since worn thin from overuse, could ruffle her placid composure.

It had been so long since she had seen him and she had lived on memories until they were worn thin.

It sounded as though this was the end of a lengthy argument, and his patience had been worn thin.

The chair behind the table was old black oak, with cushions of blanched cowhide, the leather worn thin.

When I had left Buckkeep at harvest time, he had been a withered shadow, worn thin by the weight of his duties and his constant watchfulness.