What (who) is Tear - definition
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Tears (single); Tears song; Tears (song); Tears (album); Tear (disambiguation); Tears (disambiguation); Tearing (disambiguation)
tear
I. CRYING
(tears)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
Tears are the drops of salty liquid that come out of your eyes when you are crying.
Her eyes filled with tears...
I didn't shed a single tear.
N-COUNT: usu pl
2.
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 and ran from the kitchen...
N-PLURAL
3.
see also crocodile tears
II. DAMAGING OR MOVING
(tears, tearing, tore, torn)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
Please look at category 8 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1.
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...
Mary Ann tore the edge off her napkin...
He took a small notebook from his jacket pocket and tore out a page...
Too fine a material may tear...
Nancy quickly tore open the envelope...
He noticed that fabric was tearing away from the plane's wing...
He went ashore leaving me to start repairing the torn sail.
VERB: V n, V n prep, V n with adv, V, V n with adj, V prep/adv, V-ed
•
She tore the letter up...
Don't you dare tear up her ticket.
...a torn up photograph.
PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V P n (not pron), V-ed P
2.
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.
N-COUNT
3.
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...
If the muscle is stretched again it could even tear.
...torn ligaments.
VERB: V n, V, V-ed
4.
To tear something from somewhere means to remove it roughly and violently.
She tore the windscreen wipers from his car...
He tore down the girl's photograph, and crumpled it into a ball.
VERB: V n prep, V n with adv
5.
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.
= rip
VERB: V at n
6.
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...
= rush
VERB: V prep/adv
7.
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.
V-PASSIVE: be V-ed by n
• -torn
...the riot-torn areas of Los Angeles.
COMB in ADJ
8.
tear
I. v. a.
1.
Rend, pull apart, separate by pulling.
2.
Lacerate, laniate, lancinate, mangle, rend, wound.
3.
Sever, sunder.
4.
Break away, force away, rend away, snatch away.
5.
Shatter, rend.
II. v. n.
1.
Rush with violence, move with violence.
2.
Rage, rave, fume, rant.
III. n.
Rent, fissure.
tear
tear1 [t?:]
¦ verb (past tore; past participle torn)
1. pull or rip apart or to pieces.
make a hole or split in.
damage (a muscle or ligament) by overstretching it.
(tear something down) demolish something.
2. (tear something apart) destroy something, especially good relations between people.
(be torn) be in a state of uncertainty between two conflicting options or parties.
3. (tear oneself away) [usu. with negative] leave despite a strong desire to stay.
4. informal move very quickly and in an uncontrolled manner.
5. (tear into) attack verbally.
¦ noun a hole or split caused by tearing.
Phrases
tear one's hair out informal feel extreme desperation.
tear someone off a strip (or tear a strip off someone) Brit. informal rebuke someone angrily.
that's torn it Brit. informal expressing dismay when something has happened to disrupt someone's plans.
Derivatives
tearable adjective
tearer noun
Origin
OE teran, of Gmc origin.
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tear2 [t??]
¦ noun a drop of clear salty liquid secreted from glands in a person's eye when they are crying or when the eye is irritated.
Phrases
in tears crying.
Derivatives
teary adjective
Origin
OE tear, of Gmc origin.
Wikipedia
Tear
Tear, tears or tearing may refer to:
- Tearing, the act of breaking apart a material by force
- Tears, a clear liquid secreted by the tear gland in the eyes of land mammals
Pronunciation examples for Tear
1. tear, ne'er.
#! Computer Generated Poetry _ Nick Montfort _ Talks at Google
2. Tear gas? Anyone?
ted-talks_2154_BrunoTorturra_2014G-320k
3. willing to tear up.
THE UNWINDING - An Inner History of the New America _ George Packer _ Talks at Google
4. You tear them apart.
Celebrating Lunar New Year _ Chef Martin Yan & Guests _ Talks at Google
5. me tear up.
Caine's Arcade _ Nirvan Mullick & Caine Monroy _ Talks at Google
Examples of use of Tear
1. US sales in 2002 included 5,000 tear–gas grenades, 2,000 tear–gas projectiles, and 25 tear–gas launchers to Cojedes, a poor, rural, state governed by a Chvez supporter.
2. Police fired tear gas as the brawlers lit firecrackers and tried to tear down fencing separating the stands from the field.
3. Medics said 26 people were treated for tear gas inhalation.
4. Conservatives warn that will tear the nation apart.
5. Bolivia‘s government called the use of tear gas excessive.