wear and tear

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛəɹ ən ˈtɛəɹ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

wear and tear (uncountable)

1. Damage or depreciation resulting from ordinary use (normally as something excluded from a guarantee or warranty of quality, or as justifying a write-down in a set of accounts).
   • 1962 July, “Beyond the Channel: Switzerland: Increasing Swiss Federal route capacities”, in Modern Railways, page 58:

     The main obstacles to increasing traffic, in fact, are the heavy gradients and sharp curves on the approaches to the Gotthard Tunnel. Wear-and-tear of the track necessitates frequent attention by the civil engineers and possessions are hard to obtain without reducing the throughput of trains.

   The washing machine flooded the basement due to wear and tear, so Margaret was not eligible for insurance.

• tear and wear