消磨

xiāomó

verb #9,974

Meanings

他喜欢在咖啡店消磨时间。

Tā xǐhuan zài kāfēidiàn xiāomó shíjiān.

He likes to while away time in coffee shops.

这份工作消磨了他的意志。

Zhè fèn gōngzuò xiāomó le tā de yìzhì.

This job wore down his willpower.

不要消磨在无聊的事情上。

Bùyào xiāomó zài wúliáo de shìqíng shàng.

Don't waste time on boring things.

usage

Two nuances: 消磨时间 is neutral (killing time), but 消磨意志/热情 is negative (eroding willpower/passion).

memory

消 (diminish) + 磨 (grind) = grind something away slowly, like time or motivation.

消 xiāo

磨 mó