Tear Definition

târ
tearing, tears, tore, torn
verb
tearing, tears, tore, torn
To pull apart or separate into pieces by force; rip or rend (cloth, paper, etc.)
Webster's New World
To make or cause by tearing or puncturing.
To tear a hole in a dress.
Webster's New World
To fill with tears.
Webster's New World
To wound by tearing; lacerate.
Skin torn and bruised.
Webster's New World
To make (an opening) in something by pulling it apart or by accident.
I tore a hole in my stocking.
American Heritage
Antonyms:
noun
tears
The act of tearing.
Webster's New World
The result of a tearing; torn place; rent.
Webster's New World
A rushing pace; great hurry.
Webster's New World
Webster's New World
A carousal; spree.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
idiom
tear (one's) hair
  • To be greatly upset or distressed.
American Heritage
tear at
  • to make violent, pulling motions at in an attempt to tear or remove
Webster's New World
tear down
  • to wreck or demolish (a building, etc.)
  • to dismantle or take apart

    to tear down an engine

Webster's New World
tear into
  • to attack impetuously and, often, devastatingly
Webster's New World
tear it
  • to be that which brings about final failure, defeat, frustration, loss of patience, etc.

    that tears it!

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Tear

Noun

Singular:
tear
Plural:
tears

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Tear

Origin of Tear

  • From Middle English teren, from Old English teran (“to tear, lacerate"), from Proto-Germanic *teranÄ… (“to tear, tear apart, rip"), from Proto-Indo-European *derǝ- (“to tear, tear apart"). Cognate with Scots tere, teir, tair (“to rend, lacerate, wound, rip, tear out"), Dutch teren (“to eliminate, efface, live, survive by consumption"), German zehren (“to consume, misuse"), German zerren (“to tug, rip, tear"), Danish tære (“to consume"), Swedish tära (“to fret, consume, deplete, use up"), Icelandic tæra (“to clear, corrode"). Outside Germanic, cognate to Ancient Greek δέρω (derō, “to skin"), Albanian ther (“to slay, skin, pierce").

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English teer, ter, tere, tear, from Old English tÄ“ar, tÇ£r, tæhher, teagor, *teahor (“drop; tear; what is distilled from anything in drops, nectar"), from Proto-Germanic *tahrÄ… (“tear"), from Proto-Indo-European *dáḱru- (“tears"). Cognates include Old Norse tár (Danish tÃ¥re and Norwegian tÃ¥re), Old High German zahar (German Zähre), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐍂 (tagr).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English teren from Old English teran der- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English ter from Old English tēar dakru- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to tear using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

tear