tear

I UK [teə(r)] / US [ter] verb
Word forms "tear":
present tense I/you/we/they tear he/she/it tears present participle tearing past tense tore UK [tɔː(r)] / US [tɔr] past participle torn UK [tɔː(r)n] / US [tɔrn]
**

1)

a) [intransitive/transitive] to pull something so that it separates into pieces or gets a hole in it, or to become damaged in this way

It's made of very thin material that tears easily.

He'd torn his raincoat.

tear a hole in something:

I've torn a hole in my sweater!

tear something to pieces/bits/shreds:

Mary tore the letter to pieces without reading it.

tear something in two:

Reynolds tore the contract in two.

b) [transitive] to accidentally damage cloth, paper etc with something sharp or by getting it stuck on something

tear something on something:

I must have torn my sleeve on that nail.

2) [transitive] to damage something such as a muscle by stretching it until it pulls apart

I tore a muscle playing football.

3) [intransitive] to move somewhere very quickly, especially in an excited or uncontrolled way

tear into/off/past etc:

Those kids are always tearing around here on their bicycles.

4) [transitive] to remove something by pulling it away from something else with force

tear something out/off/away from etc:

You'll need to tear the old wallpaper off the walls.

The storm had torn the old tree up by the roots.

•

tear someone's heart out/tear at someone's heart — literary to make someone feel very sad or upset

tear someone off a strip/tear a strip off someone — British

informal to criticize someone angrily for doing something wrong

tear someone/something to pieces/shreds — to criticize someone or something very severely; to defeat or destroy someone or something easily

Was it really necessary to tear his work to pieces like that?

They tore the opposition to shreds.

- be in a tearing hurry

- be torn by something

- tear something open

- that's torn it

- torn between

Phrasal verbs:

- tear apart

- tear at

- tear away

- tear down

- tear into

- tear off

- tear up

See:

hair, limb

II UK [tɪə(r)] / US [tɪr] noun [countable]
Word forms "tear":
singular tear plural tears
**

a) a drop of liquid that comes from your eye when you cry

Her eyes filled with tears.

tears of joy/laughter/rage etc:

She welcomed Ian with tears of joy when he returned home.

b) tears

[plural] the state of crying in tears (= crying):

I was left standing there in tears.

burst into tears (= start crying suddenly):

She slammed the phone down and burst into tears.

close/near to tears (= almost crying):

I was near to tears when she said goodbye.

on the verge of tears (= almost crying):

Colin saw I was on the verge of tears.

fight back (the) tears (= try hard not to cry):

She fought back the tears as she told us the dreadful news.

reduce someone to tears (= make someone cry):

He was well known for reducing his staff to tears.

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it'll (all) end in tears — British

spoken used for warning someone that what they are doing will have a very bad or unhappy result

- bring a tear to someone's eye

See:

blood

III UK [teə(r)] / US [ter] noun [countable]
Word forms "tear":
singular tear plural tears
*

a hole in a piece of paper, cloth etc where it has been torn

It's not a bad tear – we should be able to mend it.

tear in:

There was a tear in her coat.

•

See:

wear and tear