to wear out

“I broke it to him as gently as I could that it would have to wear out or be cut out, and tried to make him see that it was better to be a bald-headed boss on a large salary than a curly-headed clerk on a small one; but, in the end, he resigned, taking along a letter from me to the friend who had recommended him and some of my good bone-meal.”

Old Gorgon Graham

“Fleda managed successfully to place the two Evelyns between her and Mr. Thorn, and then prepared herself to wear out the evening with patience.”

Queechy

“And if our stubbornness and folly be such as to be ready to wear out his patience, -- to make him weary, as he complains, Isa.xliii. 24, and to cause him to serve beyond the limits of his patience, -- he will be exalted, take to himself his great power for the removal of our stubbornness, that he may be merciful unto us.”

The Sermons of John Owen

“When Mr. Odo Russell called on Cavour in December 1858, he remarked that Austria had only to play a waiting game to wear out the financial resources of Piedmont, while, on the other hand, Piedmont would forfeit the sympathies of Europe if it precipitated matters by a declaration of war.”

Cavour

“It’s theorized that by constantly stimulating insulin release with sugary and high-glycemic-index foods, the pancreas, which produces insulin, starts to wear out and type 2 diabetes ensues.”

Simon & Schuster: The Life You Want

“The business of the day was arranged, Barby's course made clear, Hugh visited and smiled upon; and then Fleda set herself down in the breakfast-room to wear out the rest of the day in patient suffering.”

Queechy