tear
[verb]
Synonyms:
- rip, claw, lacerate, mangle, mutilate, pull apart, rend, rupture, scratch, shred, split
- rush, bolt, charge, dash, fly, hurry, race, run, speed, sprint, zoom
[noun]
Synonyms:
- hole, laceration, rent, rip, rupture, scratch, split

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Related Words: cut, gash, incise, slash, slit, devil, pull (apart), rift, sever, sunder, ribbon, shred, break, crack, rupture, damage, impair, injure

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English Thesaurus: break, smash, snap, split, fracture, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. tear¹ S3 W3 /tɪə $ tɪr/ noun

1. [countable usually plural] a drop of salty liquid that comes out of your eye when you are crying:
The children were all in tears.
She came home in floods of tears.
I could see that Sam was close to tears.
Bridget suddenly burst into tears and ran out.
He was fighting back tears as he spoke.
A lot of people were moved to tears by his story.
He kissed her cheek, a gesture that brought tears to her eyes.
I must admit I shed a few tears when the school closed.
I saw grown men reduced to tears that day.
‘Please don’t talk like that,’ Ellen implored him, her eyes filling with tears.
By this time, tears were streaming down my face.
The tears he shed were tears of joy.

2. it’ll (all) end in tears British English spoken used to warn someone that something they are doing will cause problems or arguments between people
⇒ bore somebody to tears at bore²(1), ⇒ crocodile tears at crocodile(4)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. tear² S2 W3 /teə $ ter/ verb (past tense tore /tɔː $ tɔːr/, past participle torn /tɔːn $ tɔːrn/)
[Language: Old English; Origin: teran]

1. PAPER/CLOTH
a) [transitive] to damage something such as paper or cloth by pulling it hard or letting it touch something sharp Synonym : rip:
Be careful not to tear the paper.
His clothes were old and torn.
tear something on something
She realized she had torn her jacket on a nail.
tear something off
Tear off the slip at the bottom of this page and send it back to us.
tear something out (of something)
He tore a page out of his notebook and handed it to her.
The dog had torn a huge hole in the tent.
He picked up the envelope and tore it open.
She tore the letter to pieces and threw it in the bin.
Most of her clothes had been torn to shreds.
b) [intransitive] if paper or cloth tears, it splits and a hole appears, because it has been pulled too hard or has touched something sharp:
The paper is old and tears easily.

2. MOVE QUICKLY [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to run or drive somewhere very quickly, especially in a dangerous or careless way:
She tore back into the house.
We tore down to the hospital.
He tore off into town.

3. REMOVE SOMETHING [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to pull something violently from a person or place
tear something from somebody/something
He tore the letter from my hand.
A bridge was torn from the bank by the floodwaters.
tear something off something
High winds nearly tore the roof off the house.

4. be torn
a) if you are torn, you are unable to decide what to do because you have different feelings or different things that you want
be torn between
She was torn between her love of dancing and her fear of performing in public.
He was torn two ways.
Jess was torn by anger and worry.
b) if a country or group is torn, it is divided because people in it have very different ideas and are arguing or fighting with each other:
The country was torn by civil war.
She spent two months in the war-torn city.

5. MUSCLE [transitive] to damage a muscle or ligament:
She had torn a muscle in her leg.

6. tear loose to move violently and no longer be attached to something:
One end had torn loose.

7. tear somebody/something to shreds/pieces informal to criticize someone or something very severely:
He tore her arguments to shreds.

8. tear somebody off a strip/tear a strip off somebody British English informal to talk to someone very angrily because they have done something wrong

9. tear somebody limb from limb literary to attack someone in a very violent way

10. be tearing your hair out British English informal to feel anxious and upset because you are worried, or because you have to deal with something that is very difficult:
I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to get done in time.

11. be in a tearing hurry British English to be doing something very quickly because you are late

12. tear sb’s heart (out)/tear at sb’s heart to make someone feel extremely upset:
The thought of her out there alone tore at my heart.

13. that’s torn it! British English spoken old-fashioned used when something bad has happened that stops you from doing what you intended to do:
Oh, no, that’s torn it! I’ve left my keys in the car!

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

III. tear³ /teə $ ter/ noun [countable]
a hole in a piece of cloth or paper where it has been torn
tear in
There was a huge tear in his shirt.
⇒ wear and tear at wear²(2)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

tear1
/tie(r)/ noun
ADJ. angry, bitter, emotional There were angry tears in Lily's eyes.
burning, fresh, hot, salty, scalding Her eyes were blinded by scalding tears.
genuine, real | crocodile (figurative) (= insincere) They weep crocodile tears for the poor and disadvantaged but are basically happy with things as they are.
great, huge, large | single, solitary | silent | helpless, sudden, uncontrollable | unshed His eyes were bright with unshed tears.
VERB + TEAR cry, shed, weep She wept silent tears when she heard his name. (figurative) I won't shed any tears when Frank retires.
dry, wipe (away) I picked the little girl up and helped dry her tears. She wiped a tear from her eye.
blink/choke/fight/hold back He had to fight back tears of frustration.
break down in, burst into She broke down in tears in court.
move/reduce sb to His father's angry shouting reduced the little boy to tears.
brim/fill with His eyes filled with sudden tears.
end in (figurative) (= to have an unhappy result)
TEAR + VERB appear, brim in your eyes, brim over, come, fill your eyes, form, gather, spring into/to your eyes, start, well (up) Her tears brimmed over and fell on her cheek. He could never read the letter without tears coming to his eyes.
course/pour/roll/run/slide/trickle down sth, drip into/onto sth, fall, flow, overflow, stream A single tear rolled slowly down her cheek.
stand Tears stood in Oliver's eyes.
blur sth, cloud sth Tears blurred his vision.
burn (sth), prick (at/in) sth, sting your eyes She felt tears pricking her eyelids.
dry (up)
PREP. in ~s He came to me in tears.
through your ~s She tried to smile through her tears.
~ for He shed no tears for his lost youth.
~ of tears of happiness
~ over It turned out to be a lot of tears over nothing.
PHRASES bring tears to your eyes It brings tears to your eyes to see the children having such fun.
close/near to tears More than once I came near to tears.
a flood/floods of tears We were in floods of tears at the end of the film.
a mist of tears I saw it all through a mist of tears.
on the verge of tears, tears in your eyes, too deep for tears There are times when suffering may be too deep for tears.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

tear2
/tee(r)/ noun
VERB + TEAR have | make | mend
PREP. ~ in This sheet has a tear in it.
PHRASES wear and tear (= the damage to objects, furniture, etc. that is the result of normal use)

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

tear3
/tee(r)/ verb
ADV. badly His clothes were badly torn.
easily Careful?the fabric tears very easily.
almost, nearly The storm nearly tore the roof off.
apart, off, out, up The dogs tore the fox apart. (figurative) We tore the other team apart in the second half.
VERB + TEAR threaten to
PREP. from I tore another sheet from the pad.
off She tore the label off the suitcase.
on She tore her skirt on a nail.
out of Several pages had been torn out of the book.
PHRASES tear free/loose She tore herself free. One error and he would have been torn loose and hurled overboard by the squalling wind.
tear sth in half/two She tore the piece of paper in half.
tear sb limb from limb He threatened to tear me limb from limb.
tear sth open She tore the letter open.
tear sth to pieces/shreds (often figurative) The critics tore his last film to shreds.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

tear

be in tears (=be crying)
When Evelyn put the phone down, she was in tears.
be in floods of tears British English (=be crying a lot)
By the time she left, she was in floods of tears.
be close to/on the verge of tears (=be almost crying)
He could see that May was close to tears.
there are tears in sb’s eyes
As she watched, there were tears of joy in her eyes.
tears of joy/frustration/rage etc
The tears he shed were tears of joy.
burst into tears (=suddenly start crying)
She burst into tears and begged me to stay.
break down in tears (=suddenly start crying)
I broke down in tears when I read the letter.
be moved to tears (=be so upset that you cry)
Members of the audience were moved to tears by her singing.
bring tears to sb’s eyes (=make somebody cry)
This unexpected kindness brings tears to my eyes.
reduce somebody to tears (=make somebody cry)
His insults had reduced her to tears, but she had not changed her mind.
hold back the tears (=not cry even though you feel like crying)
She gave her version of events, often struggling to hold back the tears.
fight/choke/blink back tears (=try not to cry)
She fought back tears yesterday as she re-lived the horrors she had seen.
shed/weep tears (=cry)
Don’t shed any tears for him.
sb’s eyes fill with tears
His eyes filled with tears as he recalled his mother’s sacrifices.
tears well up in sb’s eyes (=tears come into their eyes)
She broke off, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes.
tears run/roll/stream down sb’s face
Oliver laughed until tears ran down his face.
bitter tears
She wept bitter tears of remorse for leaving her children behind.
hot tears
I felt the hot tears running down my face.
tear a hole in something
She caught her shawl on a nail and tore a hole in it.
tear something open
She tore open the envelope.
tear something to pieces/shreds
The dogs tore the meat to pieces.
tear something in two (also tear something in half)
Jack snatched the letter from him and tore it in two.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

tear
noun
BAD: All of a sudden the child burst in tears.
GOOD: All of a sudden the child burst into tears.
BAD: When the policeman had gone, she broke in tears.
GOOD: When the policeman had gone, she burst into tears.

Usage Note:
burst into tears or break down (in tears) : 'Laura burst into tears and ran out of the room.' 'She still can't talk about the war without breaking down in tears.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲