tear 
tear (ter)
transitive verb tore, torn, tear′·ing
- to pull apart or separate into pieces by force; rip or rend (cloth, paper, etc.)
- to make or cause by tearing or puncturing to tear a hole in a dress
- to wound by tearing; lacerate skin torn and bruised
- to force apart or divide into factions; disrupt; split ranks torn by dissension
- to divide with doubt, uncertainty, etc.; agitate; torment a mind torn between duty and desire
- to remove by or as by tearing, pulling, etc.: with up, out, away, off, etc. to tear a plant up by its roots, to tear oneself away
Etymology: ME teren < OE teran, to rend, akin to Ger zehren, to destroy, consume < IE base *der-, to skin, split > drab, derma
intransitive verb
- to be torn
- to move violently or with speed; dash
noun
- the act of tearing
- the result of a tearing; torn place; rent
- a rushing pace; great hurry
- wear and tear
- ☆ Slang a carousal; spree
tear at
to make violent, pulling motions at in an attempt to tear or remove
tear down
- to wreck or demolish (a building, etc.)
- to dismantle or take apart to tear down an engine
- to cause to disintegrate
- to controvert or disprove (an argument, etc.) point by point
tear into
Informal to attack impetuously and, often, devastatingly
tear it
Slang to be that which brings about final failure, defeat, frustration, loss of patience, etc. that tears it!
tear (tir)
noun
- a drop of the salty fluid secreted by the lacrimal gland to lubricate the eyeball, kill bacteria, etc.: in humans, tears may flow for emotional reasons due to the tightening of muscles near the glands
- anything resembling this, as a drop of transparent gum; tearlike mass
- sorrow; grief
Etymology: ME tere < OE tēar, teagor, akin to Ger zähre < IE *daru, tear > OL dacrima (> L lacrima), Gr dakryon
intransitive verb
to fill with tears
in tears
crying; weeping
tear
n.
Antonyms
tear
v.
tear implies a pulling apart by force, so as to lacerate or leave ragged edges to tear paper wrapping; rip suggests a forcible tearing, especially along a seam or in a straight line to rip a hem; rend, a somewhat literary term, implies a tearing with violence the tree was rent by a bolt of lightning
Object
- ligament: Apparently I may have torn a knee ligament ( we're still waiting for the results from my MRI ).
- duct: They run down tiny tear ducts into the nose.
- jerker: I must admit it's still a tear jerker now.
Converse of object
- shed: Her tears shed for her son watered the ground wherever she prayed.
- weep: Some day you'll weep tears of delight in that court, remembering your mistaken parents!
- wipe: Who is going to wipe the tears of the innocent children?
- cry: She burst out laughing, crying tears of laughter.
- choke: For the first time, I sensed a whiff of achievement and confess I had to choke back a few tears.
Adjective modifier
- meniscal: Confusion in describing meniscal tears in the knee commonly arises because there are two kinds of cartilage in the knee.
- bitter: Nininsina, the mother of the Land, wept bitter tears.
- silent: A silent thought, a silent tear, Always wishing you were here.
Noun used with modifier
- crocodile: Gone is the need to lie and turn on crocodile tears whenever we cannot have our own way.
Followed by a transitive particle
- apart: A great deal of controversy has arisen when there is the often occurrence of archeologists digging up grave sites and tearing apart sacred areas.
Present participle complement
- jerk: The story of a baby girl growing up and becoming a mother herself - lovely illustrations and rather tear jerking for adults!
Preposition: of
- joy: His hair stood on end, and tears of joy streamed down his cheeks.
- laughter: She burst out laughing, crying tears of laughter.
- meniscus: An MRI scan was arranged which revealed a tear of the medial meniscus and underlying anterior cruciate ligament rupture.
- sorrow: And yet, even then, joy will overcome the tears of sorrow so that the optimism is felt in the emotions.
- sadness: So delicate her jade face, drowned with tears of sadness, Like a spray of pear flowers, veiled with springtime rain.
- ligament: Mild or minimal sprains with no tear of the ligament usually produce mild tenderness and some swelling.
Nous ne pouvons arracher une seule page de notre vie, mais nous pouvons jeter le livre au feu. We cannot tear out a single page from our life, but we can throw the entire book in the fire.
There has fallen a splendid tear From the passion-flower at the gate. She is coming, my dove, my dear; She is coming, my life, my fate; The red rose cries,'She is near, she is near;' And the white rose weeps,'She is late;' The larkspur listens,'I hear, I hear;' And the lily whispers,'I wait.' She is coming, my own, my sweet; Were it ever so airya tread, My heart would hear her and beat, Were it earth in an earthy bed; My dust would hear her and beat; Had I lain for a century dead; Would start and tremble under her feet, And blossom in purple and red.
Una furtiva lagrima. A furtive tear.
None are so desolate but something dear, Dearer than self, possesses or possessed A thought, and claims the homage of a tear.
Je¤ sus a pleure¤ , Voltaire a souri; c'est de cette larme divine et de ce sourire humain qu'est faite la douceur de la civilisation actuelle. Jesus wept;Voltairesmiled.Of that divinetearand of that human smile the sweetness of present civilization is composed.
Forget all feuds, and shed one English tear O'er English dust. A broken heart lies here.
If you can take $20,000 in one-hundred-dollar bills and walk up on a windy hill and tear themup and watchthem blowaway, and it doesn't bother you, thenyoushould go into the commodities market.
Mighty victor, mighty lord, Low on his funeral couch he lies! No pitying heart, no eye, afford A tear to grace his obsequies.
Oh! too convincingödangerously dearö In woman's eye the unanswerable tear!
Browse dictionary entries near tear
- ‹ teapoy
- ‹ teapot
- ‹ teamwork
- ‹ teamster
- ‹ teammate
- ‹ team up with
- ‹ team teaching
- ‹ team player
- ‹ team
- ‹ teal
- tear gas ›
- tear-jerker ›
- tear sheet ›
- tearaway ›
- teardrop ›
- tearful ›
- tearing ›
- tearless ›
- tearoom ›
- tears ›
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