tear

tear¹ W3S3 [tıə US tır] n

1.) [C 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

BrE spoken used to warn someone that something they are doing will cause problems or arguments between people

→bore sb to tears at ↑bore² (1)

→crocodile tears at ↑crocodile

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COLLOCATES for sense 1

in tears (=crying)

in floods of tears British English (=crying a lot)

close to tears/on the verge of tears (=almost crying)

burst into tears (=suddenly start crying)

fight back (the) tears also choke back tears (=try not to cry)

moved to tears (=so upset that you cry)

bring tears to somebody's eyes (=make someone cry)

shed tears/a tear (=cry)

reduce somebody to tears (=make someone cry)

somebody's eyes fill with tears

tears well up in your eyes (=you start to cry)

tears roll/run/stream down somebody's face/cheeks

tears of joy/rage/frustration etc (=crying because you are happy, angry etc)

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tear ²

tear² W3S2 [teə US ter] v past tense tore [to: US to:r] past participle torn [to:n US to:rn]

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1¦(paper/cloth)¦

2¦(move quickly)¦

3¦(remove something)¦

4 be torn

5¦(muscle)¦

6 tear loose

7 tear somebody/something to shreds/pieces

8 tear somebody off a strip/tear a strip off somebody

9 tear somebody limb from limb

10 be tearing your hair out

11 be in a tearing hurry

12 tear somebody's heart (out)/tear at somebody's heart

13 that's torn it!

Phrasal verbs

　tear somebody/something apart

　tear at somebody/something

　tear somebody away

　tear something<=>down

　tear into somebody/something

　tear something<=>off

　tear something<=>up

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[: Old English; Origin: teran]

1.) ¦(PAPER/CLOTH)¦

a) [T]

to damage something such as paper or cloth by pulling it hard or letting it touch something sharp

= ↑rip

▪ Be careful not to tear the paper.

▪ His clothes were old and torn.

tear sth on sth

▪ She realized she had torn her jacket on a nail.

tear sth off

▪ Tear off the slip at the bottom of this page and send it back to us.

tear sth out (of sth)

▪ 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)

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)¦ [I 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)¦ [T always + adverb/preposition]

to pull something violently from a person or place

tear sth from sb/sth

▪ He tore the letter from my hand.

▪ A bridge was torn from the bank by the floodwaters.

tear sth off sth

▪ 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)¦ [T]

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 sb/sth to shreds/pieces [i]informal

to criticize someone or something very severely

▪ He tore her arguments to shreds.

8.) tear sb off a strip/tear a strip off sb

BrE informal to talk to someone very angrily because they have done something wrong

9.) tear sb limb from limb

literary to attack someone in a very violent way

10.) be tearing your hair out

BrE 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

BrE 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!

BrE 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!

tear apart [tear sb/sth apart] phr v

1.) tear sth<=>apart

to cause serious arguments in a group of people

= ↑rip apart

▪ Scandal is tearing the government apart.

▪ a row that tore the family apart

2.) literary to separate people who are in a close relationship with each other

▪ Nothing can tear us apart!

3.) to make someone feel extremely unhappy or upset

▪ Seeing her so upset really tore him apart.

4.) tear sth<=>apart

to break something violently into a lot of small pieces

= ↑rip apart

▪ Her body had been torn apart by wolves.

tear at / [tear at sb/sth] phr v

to pull violently at someone or something

▪ The children were screaming and tearing at each other's hair.

tear away [tear sb away] phr v

to make yourself or someone else leave a place when you or they do not want to leave

▪ He was enjoying the fun and couldn't tear himself away.

tear somebody away from

▪ We finally managed to tear him away from the TV.

tear down [tear sth<=>down] phr v

to destroy a building deliberately

▪ A lot of the old tower blocks have been torn down to make way for new housing.

tear into / [tear into sb/sth] phr v

1.) to attack someone by hitting them very hard

▪ The two boys tore into each other.

2.) to criticize someone very strongly and angrily

▪ From time to time she would really tear into her staff.

3.) to start doing something quickly, with a lot of energy

▪ I was amazed at the way she tore into her work.

tear off [tear sth<=>off] phr vto remove your clothes as quickly as you can

▪ He tore off his clothes and dived into the water.

tear up [tear sth<=>up] phr v

1.) to tear a piece of paper or cloth into small pieces

= ↑rip up

▪ She tore up his letter and threw it away.

2.) to remove something from the ground by pulling or pushing it violently

▪ the remains of trees that had been torn up by the storm

3.) tear up an agreement/a contract etc

to say that you no longer accept an agreement or contract

▪ threats to tear up the peace agreement

tear ³

tear³ [teə US ter] n

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)