better wear out than rust out
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
It's better to die actively than passively
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Tốt hơn là chết trong hoạt động chứ không phải chết trong bất hoạt
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: wearing out from use versus rusting from disuse
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “better wear out than rust out” mean?
It's better to die actively than passively Literally: wearing out from use versus rusting from disuse
Is “better wear out than rust out” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.