Page "Battle" Paragraph 23

* A battle of attrition aims to inflict losses on an enemy that are less sustainable compared to one's own losses.

These need not be greater numerical losses-if one side is much more numerous than the other than pursuing a strategy based on attrition can work even if casualties on both sides are about equal.

Many battles of the Western Front in the First World War were intentionally ( Verdun ) or unintentionally ( Somme ) attrition battles.