attrition

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Grinding down or wearing away by friction.
2. (countable, uncountable)Grinding down or wearing away by friction.
3. (countable, uncountable)A gradual reduction in number.

   “Recent years have seen […] more and more blatant reversals of previous Supreme Court decisions in favor of the constitutional rights of minorities. These increasingly conservative decisions, and constant attrition of individuals' rights, have directly paralleled the alarming increase of convictions in our courts.”

   “But the rise of multiracialism is not all Kumbaya choruses and “postracial” identity. The N.A.A.C.P. criticized the census change, fearing that since so few in the black community are of fully African descent, mass attrition to a mixed-race option could threaten political clout and Federal financing.”

4. (countable, uncountable)A gradual reduction in number.
5. (countable, uncountable)A gradual reduction in number.
6. (countable, uncountable)A gradual reduction in number.
7. (countable, uncountable)Imperfect contrition or remorse.

verb

1. (transitive)To grind or wear down through friction.

   “attritioned teeth; attritioned rock”

   “[…] He took her in his arms And kissed her long and wetly, Till, attritioned by her charms, His will collapsed completely.”

2. (transitive)To reduce the number of (jobs or workers) by not hiring new employees to fill positions that become vacant (often with out).

   “[…] but the heart of the health services in New York will have to attrition out some 3,000 to 5,000 jobs.”

   “[…] expenses can be cut, by attritioning faculty vacancies […]”

3. (intransitive)To undergo a reduction in number.

   “The cohort of one hundred students had attritioned to sixty by the end of secondary school.”