dē-tĕro — Lewis & Short
dē-tĕro, trīvi, trītum, 3,
I v. a., to rub away, to wear away, to wear out (mostly poet. and in post-Aug. prose; not in Cic. or Caes.).
I Prop.:
strataque jam volgi pedibus detrita viarum saxea,Lucr. 1, 315:
a catena collum detritum cani,Phaedr. 3, 7, 16; so,
vestem usu,Plin. 8, 48, 73, § 191; cf.:
detrita tegmina,Tac. A. 1, 18:
aurum usu,Plin. 33, 3, 19:
pedes (viă longă),Tib. 1, 9, 16:
frumenta,to thresh out, Col. 1, 6, 23; cf.
milium,id. 6, 12, 4:
scillam,id. 6, 27, 10:
telephion,Plin. 27, 13, 110, § 137:
calces deteris,you tread on my heels, Plaut. Merc. 5, 2, 111.—
II Trop., to diminish in force, to lessen, weaken, impair:
laudes Caesaris culpă ingeni,Hor. Od. 1, 6, 12:
aliquid velut usu ipso,Quint. 2, 4, 7:
fulgorem,id. 10, 5, 16:
si quid ardoris ac ferociae miles habuit, deteritur, etc.,Tac. H. 2, 76 fin.:
ab alio genere vitae detriti jam,Gell. 15, 30, 1:
quantum detritum est famae,Sil. 7, 247:
detrita bellis Suessa,id. 8, 399:
detereret sibi multa Lucilius,would polish his verses, Hor. S. 1, 10, 69 (cf. just before, v. 65, limatior).—Absol.:
nimia cura deterit magis quam emendat,Plin. Ep. 9, 35 fin.— Hence, * dētrītus, a, um, P. a., worn out, trite, hackneyed (for which in Cic. contritus):
illa in agendis causis jam detrita,Quint. 8, 6, 51.