Tear definition
Was torn between opposing choices; a country that was torn by strife.
I tore a hole in my stocking.
The strong wind caused my eyes to tear.
Tore the pipe from the wall.
The shirt has a small tear.
Skin torn and bruised.
Ranks torn by dissension.
A mind torn between duty and desire.
To tear a plant up by its roots, to tear oneself away.
An example of tear is a separation in the seam of a dress.
An example of tear is what comes out of the eyes when someone is crying.
An example of tear is pulling pages out of a magazine.
An example of tear is a pair of jeans being split in two.
Tore my pants on the barbed wire.
The fabric does not tear easily.
Tore off down the road; tore along the avenue.
Criticism that left me in tears.
To tear a hole in a dress.
He has a torn ligament.
He tore some muscles in a weight-lifting accident.
He was torn by conflicting emotions.
A piece of debris tore a tiny straight channel through the satellite.
His boss will tear him a new one when he finds out.
The artillery tore a gap in the line.
Tear the coupon out of the newspaper.
The slums were torn down to make way for the new development.
My dress has torn.
The chain shot tore into the approaching line of infantry.
There were big tears rolling down Lisa's cheeks.
Ryan wiped the tear from the paper he was crying on.
The strong wind caused my eyes to tear.
- To be greatly upset or distressed.
- to make violent, pulling motions at in an attempt to tear or remove
- to wreck or demolish (a building, etc.)
- to dismantle or take apartTo tear down an engine.
- to cause to disintegrate
- to controvert or disprove (an argument, etc.) point by point
- to attack impetuously and, often, devastatingly
- to be that which brings about final failure, defeat, frustration, loss of patience, etc.That tears it!.
- crying; weeping
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of tear
- 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
- 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