tear¹ (târ)

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[Middle English teren, from Old English teran.]

verb: tore (tôr, tōr), torn (tôrn, tōrn), tear·ing, tears. 

transitive verb 

1. To pull apart or into pieces by force; rend.
2. To make (an opening) by ripping: tore a hole in my stocking.
3. To lacerate (the skin, for example).
4. To separate forcefully; wrench: tore the wrappings off the present.
5. To divide or disrupt: was torn between opposing choices; a country that was torn by strife.

intransitive verb 

1. To become torn.
2. To move with heedless speed; rush headlong.

noun 

1. The act of tearing.
2. The result of tearing; a rip or rent.
3. A great rush; a hurry.
4. Slang A carousal; a spree.

phrasal verbs

tear around

To move about in excited, often angry haste.

To lead a wild life.

tear at

To pull at or attack violently: The dog tore at the meat.

To distress greatly: Their plight tore at his heart.

tear away

To remove (oneself, for example) unwillingly or reluctantly.

tear down

To demolish: tear down old tenements.

To take apart; disassemble: tear down an engine.

To vilify or denigrate.

tear into

To attack with great vigor or violence: tore into the food; tore into his opponent.

tear off

To produce hurriedly and casually: tearing off article after news article.

tear up

To tear to pieces.

To make an opening in: tore up the sidewalk to add a drain.

idioms

tear (one's) hair

To be greatly upset or distressed.

derivatives

teaŕer

noun

synonyms:

tear¹rip¹rend, split, cleave¹ These verbs mean to separate or pull apart by force. Tear involves pulling something apart or into pieces: “She tore the letter in shreds” (Edith Wharton) Rip implies rough or forcible tearing: Carpenters ripped up the old floorboards. Rend usually refers to violent tearing or wrenching apart: “Come as the winds come, when/Forests are rended” (Sir Walter Scott) To split is to cut or break something into parts or layers, especially along its entire length or along a natural line of division: “Theywarmed me twice—once while I was splitting them, and again when they were on the fire” (Henry David Thoreau) Cleave most often refers to splitting with or as if with a sharp instrument: The butcher cleft the side of beef into smaller portions.