Definition of 'tear'

Word Frequency

tear crying

(tɪəʳ )

Word forms: plural tears

1. countable noun [usually plural]

Tears are the drops of salty liquid that come out of your eyes when you are crying.

Her eyes filled with tears.

I just broke down and wept with tears of joy.

I didn't shed a single tear.

2. plural noun

You can use tears in expressions such as in tears, burst into tears, and close to tears to indicate that someone is crying or is almost crying.

He was in floods of tears on the phone.

She burst into tears.

She was conscious of being very near to tears.

3. See also crocodile tears

4. blood, sweat, and tears

More Synonyms of tear

Word Frequency

tear damaging or moving

(teəʳ )

Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense tears , present participle tearing , past tense tore , past participle torn

1. verb

If you tear paper, cloth, or another material, or if it tears, you pull it into two pieces or you pull it so that a hole appears in it.

She very nearly tore my overcoat. [VERB noun]

Mary Ann tore the edge off her napkin. [VERB noun preposition]

He took a small notebook from his jacket pocket and tore out a page. [VERB noun with adverb]

Too fine a material may tear. [VERB]

Nancy quickly tore open the envelope. [VERB noun with adjective]

He noticed that fabric was tearing away from the plane's wing. [VERB preposition/adverb]

He went ashore leaving me to start repairing the torn sail. [VERB-ed]

Synonyms: run, rip, ladder, snag More Synonyms of tear

Tear up means the same as tear2.

She tore the letter up. [VERB noun PARTICLE]

Don't you dare tear up her ticket. [VERB PARTICLE noun]

...a torn up photograph. [VERB-ed PARTICLE]

2. countable noun

A tear in paper, cloth, or another material is a hole that has been made in it.

I peered through a tear in the van's curtains. [+ in]

Synonyms: hole, split, rip, run More Synonyms of tear

3. verb

If something tears your flesh or skin, it cuts it badly.

Canine teeth are for piercing and killing prey, and tearing flesh. [VERB noun]

He had stumbled down and torn the skin from his knees. [VERB noun preposition]

Synonyms: pull apart, claw, lacerate, sever More Synonyms of tear

4. verb

If you tear one of your muscles or ligaments, or if it tears, you injure it by accidentally moving it in the wrong way.

He tore a muscle in his right thigh. [VERB noun]

If the muscle is stretched again, it could even tear. [VERB]

...torn ligaments. [VERB-ed]

5. verb

To tear something from somewhere means to remove it roughly and violently.

She tore the windscreen wipers from his car. [VERB noun preposition]

He tore down the girl's photograph, and crumpled it into a ball. [VERB noun with adverb]

Synonyms: pull, seize, rip, grab More Synonyms of tear

6. verb

If a person or animal tears at something, they pull it violently and try to break it into pieces.

Female fans fought their way past bodyguards and tore at his clothes. [VERB + at]

7. verb

If you tear somewhere, you move there very quickly, often in an uncontrolled or dangerous way.

The door flew open and Miranda tore into the room. [VERB preposition/adverb]

Without looking to left or to right, he tore off down the road. [VERB preposition/adverb]

Synonyms: rush, run, charge, race More Synonyms of tear

8. passive verb

If you say that a place is torn by particular events, you mean that unpleasant events which cause suffering and division among people are happening there.

...a country that has been torn by civil war and foreign invasion since its independence. [be VERB-ed + by]

Synonyms: divide, split, break apart, rupture More Synonyms of tear

-torn combining form

...the riot-torn areas of the city.

9. See also torn, wear and tear

10. to tear a strip off

11. to tear someone to pieces

12. to tear someone to shreds

Phrasal verbs:

See tear apart

See tear away

See tear down

See tear into

See tear off

See tear up

Video: pronunciation of
tear

tear in British English 1

(tɪə )

noun

a drop of the secretion of the lacrimal glands

tears

something shaped like a hanging drop

a tear of amber

Also called (esp Brit): teardrop

Derived forms

tearless (ˈtearless)

adjective

Word origin

Old English tēar, related to Old Frisian, Old Norse tār, Old High German zahar, Greek dakri

Word Frequency

tear in British English 2

(tɛə )

verbWord forms: tears, tearing, tore or torn

to cause (material, paper, etc) to come apart or (of material, etc) to come apart; rip

2. (transitive)

to make (a hole or split) in (something)

to tear a hole in a dress

3. (intransitive; often foll by along)

to hurry or rush

to tear along the street

4. (tr; usually foll by away or from)

to remove or take by force

5. (when intr, often foll by at)

to cause pain, distress, or anguish (to)

it tore at my heartstrings to see the starving child

6. tear one's hair

noun

a hole, cut, or split

the act of tearing

a great hurry; rush

10. on a tear

Derived forms

tearable (ˈtearable)

adjective

tearer (ˈtearer)

noun

Word origin

Old English teran; related to Old Saxon terian, Gothic gatairan to destroy, Old High German zeran to destroy

Word Frequency

tear in American English 1

(tɛr )

verb transitiveWord forms: tore, torn, ˈtearing

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

verb intransitive

to be torn

to move violently or with speed; dash

noun

the act of tearing

10.

the result of a tearing; torn place; rent

11.

a rushing pace; great hurry

12. see

wear and tear

13. US, Slang

a carousal; spree

Idioms:

SYNONYMY NOTE: tear1 implies a pulling apart by force, so as to lacerate or leave ragged edges [to tear wrapping paper]; rip1 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]

Derived forms

tearer (ˈtearer)

noun

Word origin

ME teren < OE teran, to rend, akin to Ger zehren, to destroy, consume < IE base *der-, to skin, split > drab1, derma1

Word Frequency

tear in American English 2

(tɪr )

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

3. [pl.]

sorrow; grief

verb intransitive

to fill with tears

Idioms:

in tears

Word origin

ME tere < OE tēar, teagor, akin to Ger zähre < IE *daru, tear > OL dacrima (> L lacrima), Gr dakryon

Example sentences including
tear

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…

Its first breath the great salt tears of the sea.The second hijacked airliner had just torn into the south tower and exploded.There are tears of joy in the pavilion.Quickly tear back the skin to remove. Police fired tear gas to disperse doctors protesting about salaries.There are many and it is bedlam - speeding ambulances and torn flesh.Many MPs comforted each other as they wiped away tears.If it's hard to put weight on it and it makes a clicking noise when you move it may be a torn cartilage.The victim said:'I was in tears again but they were happy this time.She said:'I left the shop almost in tears.