tear.
To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate.
Meaning & usage
To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate.
He tore his coat on the nail.
To injure as if by pulling apart.
He tore some muscles in a weight-lifting accident.
To destroy or reduce abstract unity or coherence, such as social, political or emotional.
He was torn by conflicting emotions.
To make (an opening) with force or energy.
A piece of debris tore a tiny straight channel through the satellite.
His boss will tear him a new one when he finds out.
To remove by tearing, or with sudden great force.
Tear the coupon out of the newspaper.
To demolish.
The slums were torn down to make way for the new development.
To become torn, especially accidentally.
My dress has torn.
To move or act with great speed, energy, or violence.
He went tearing down the hill at 90 miles per hour.
The tornado lingered, tearing through town, leaving nothing upright.
To smash or enter something with great force.
The chain shot tore into the approaching line of infantry.
To be interrupted midway through.
torn write
Where this word comes from
From Middle English teren, from Old English teran (“to tear, lacerate”), from Proto-Germanic *teraną (“to tear, tear apart, rip”), from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to tear, tear apart”). Cognate with Scots tere, teir, tair (“to rend, lacerate, wound, rip, tear out”), Dutch teren (“to eliminate, efface, live, survive by consumption”), German zehren (“to consume, misuse”), German zerren (“to tug, rip, tear”), Danish tære (“to consume”), Swedish tära (“to fret, consume, deplete, use up”), Icelandic tæra (“to clear, corrode”). Outside Germanic, cognate to Ancient Greek δέρω (dérō, “to skin”), Albanian ther (“to slay, skin, pierce”). Doublet of tire.
A hole or break caused by tearing.
A small tear is easy to mend, if it is on the seam.
A rampage.
to go on a tear
Where this word comes from
From Middle English teren, from Old English teran (“to tear, lacerate”), from Proto-Germanic *teraną (“to tear, tear apart, rip”), from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to tear, tear apart”). Cognate with Scots tere, teir, tair (“to rend, lacerate, wound, rip, tear out”), Dutch teren (“to eliminate, efface, live, survive by consumption”), German zehren (“to consume, misuse”), German zerren (“to tug, rip, tear”), Danish tære (“to consume”), Swedish tära (“to fret, consume, deplete, use up”), Icelandic tæra (“to clear, corrode”). Outside Germanic, cognate to Ancient Greek δέρω (dérō, “to skin”), Albanian ther (“to slay, skin, pierce”). Doublet of tire.
A drop of clear, salty liquid produced from the eyes by crying or irritation.
Big tears streamed from Lisa's eyes, rolling down her cheeks.
Ryan wiped the tear from the paper he was crying on.
Something in the form of a transparent drop of fluid matter; also, a solid, transparent, tear-shaped drop, as of some balsams or resins.
A partially vitrified bit of clay in glass.
That which causes or accompanies tears; a lament; a dirge.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English tear, teer, teere, ter, tere, tyar, tyear, tyer, tær (“tear”), from Old English teagor, tēar, tæher, from Proto-West Germanic *tahr, from Proto-Germanic *tahrą (“tear”), from Proto-Indo-European *dáḱru- (“tear”). Cognates Cognate with German Zähre (“tear”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk tåre (“tear”), Faroese and Icelandic tár (“tear”), Swedish tår (“tear”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐍂 (tagr, “teardrop”); also Cornish dager (“tear; drop”), Irish deoir (“tear”), Manx jeir (“tear”), Scottish Gaelic deur (“tear; drop”), Welsh deigryn (“tear”), Latin dacrima, dacruma, lachryma, lacrima, lacruma, lacryma (“tear”), Greek δάκρυ (dákry, “tear”), Armenian արտոսր (artosr, “tear”).
To produce tears.
Her eyes began to tear in the harsh wind.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English tear, teer, teere, ter, tere, tyar, tyear, tyer, tær (“tear”), from Old English teagor, tēar, tæher, from Proto-West Germanic *tahr, from Proto-Germanic *tahrą (“tear”), from Proto-Indo-European *dáḱru- (“tear”). Cognates Cognate with German Zähre (“tear”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk tåre (“tear”), Faroese and Icelandic tár (“tear”), Swedish tår (“tear”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐍂 (tagr, “teardrop”); also Cornish dager (“tear; drop”), Irish deoir (“tear”), Manx jeir (“tear”), Scottish Gaelic deur (“tear; drop”), Welsh deigryn (“tear”), Latin dacrima, dacruma, lachryma, lacrima, lacruma, lacryma (“tear”), Greek δάκρυ (dákry, “tear”), Armenian արտոսր (artosr, “tear”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.