What does attriting mean?
Attriting is the present participle of the verb 'to attrit', meaning to reduce the number, strength, or effectiveness of something gradually and persistently rather than through a single decisive act. The word belongs mostly to two professional domains. In military language, forces are said to be attriting an enemy when they inflict steady losses — through artillery, air strikes, or disruption of supplies — with the aim of degrading combat power over time. In business and administration, attriting describes shrinking a workforce or budget through natural turnover, hiring freezes, and retirement rather than outright dismissals. The term is formal and slightly technical in tone, and many writers prefer plainer phrasing such as 'wearing down' in ordinary contexts. Its interest lies partly in its history: it is a back-formation from the noun 'attrition', which derives from Latin 'attritus', the past participle of 'atterere', meaning to rub against or wear away.
verb (present participle of 'attrit')Gradually reducing the number or strength of something — such as an enemy force, a workforce, or a budget — through sustained attrition rather than direct action. It is chiefly used in military and organizational contexts.
- To reduce an opposing force's numbers or effectiveness gradually through continuous pressure, losses, or wear (military usage).
- To reduce the size of a workforce, organization, or resource through natural turnover, resignations, or gradual depletion rather than layoffs or direct cuts (organizational usage).
"The general favored attriting the enemy's supply lines over launching a frontal assault."
"The strategy focused on attriting the enemy's armored divisions before any major offensive."
"Rather than issuing layoffs, the company shrank its staff by attriting positions through retirements and voluntary departures."
'Attriting' is what linguists call a back-formation: military planners took the noun 'attrition' and carved the verb 'to attrit' out of it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of attriting
'Attriting' comes from the verb 'attrit', which was formed in the twentieth century by back-formation from the older noun 'attrition'. 'Attrition' entered English from Latin 'attritio' ('a rubbing against'), derived from 'atterere', meaning 'to rub against or wear away', formed from 'ad-' ('toward') plus 'terere' ('to rub'). The original English sense of attrition concerned wearing down by friction, later extended to theological penance and then, in the nineteenth century, to the gradual reduction of numbers in war. The verb 'attrit' — and hence 'attriting' — arose when military and administrative usage reinterpreted that noun as a process requiring a verb of its own.
Related word forms
How attriting is actually used
Register: formal to technical. 'Attriting' is rare in everyday conversation and appears almost exclusively in military doctrine, defense journalism, and human-resources or management writing. It is the present participle and gerund of 'attrit', itself a mid-20th-century back-formation from 'attrition'. Some style guides treat 'attriting' as jargon; plainer alternatives like 'wearing down' or 'reducing through attrition' are often preferred in general prose.
Easily confused with attriting
'Attiring' means dressing or clothing someone, while 'attriting' means gradually wearing down or reducing strength.