Definition of 'tear'
Word forms: plural tears
3. See also crocodile tears
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense tears
, present participle tearing
, past tense tore
, past participle torn
1. verb
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.
Tear up means the same as tear2.
4. verb
5. verb
6. verb
If a person or animal tears at something, they pull it violently and try to break it into pieces.
7. verb
8. passive verb
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. [be VERB-ed + by]
9. See also torn, wear and tear
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
tear in British English 1
noun
Also called (esp Brit): teardropCollins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
tearless (ˈtearless) adjective
Word origin
Old English tēar, related to Old Frisian, Old Norse tār, Old High German zahar, Greek dakriWord Frequency
tear in British English 2
verbWord forms: tears, tearing, tore, torn
4. (tr; usually foll by away or from)
to remove or take by force
5. (when intr, often foll by at)
it tore at my heartstrings to see the starving child
6. See tear one's hair
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
tearable (ˈtearable) adjective
tearer (ˈtearer)
noun
Word origin
Old English teran; related to Old Saxon terian, Gothic gatairan to destroy, Old High German zeran to destroy
Word Frequency
tear in American English 1
verb transitiveWord forms: tore, torn, ˈtearing
1.
to pull apart or separate into pieces by force; rip or rend (cloth, paper, etc.)
6.
to remove by or as by tearing, pulling, etc.
with up, out, away, off, etc. to tear a plant up by its roots, to tear oneself away
noun
SYNONYMY NOTE: tear1 implies a pulling apart by force, so as to lacerate or leave ragged edges [to tear wrapping paper]; rip1 suggests a forcible tearing, especially along a seam or in a straight line [to rip a hem]; rend, a somewhat literary term, implies a tearing with violence [the tree was rent by a bolt of lightning]9.
the act of tearing
10.
the result of a tearing; torn place; rent
11.
a rushing pace; great hurry
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
tearer (ˈtearer)
noun
Word Frequency
tear in American English 2
verb intransitive
4.
to fill with tears
Idioms:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME tere < OE tēar, teagor, akin to Ger zähre < IE *daru, tear > OL dacrima (> L lacrima), Gr dakryonWord Frequency
tear in American English 1
(tɪər)
noun
1.
2.
this fluid appearing in or flowing from the eye as the result of emotion, esp. grief
3.
something resembling or suggesting a tear, as a drop of a liquid or a tearlike mass of a solid substance, esp. having
a spherical or globular shape at one end and tapering to a point at the other
5. See tears
6. See in tears
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[bef. 900; (n.) ME teer, OE tēar, tehher, taeher; c. OHG zahar, ON tār, Goth tagr, Gk dákry, L lacrima ( see lachrymal); (v.) ME teren, OE teheran, in teherende (ger.), deriv. of the n.]Word Frequency
tear in American English 2
(tɛər) (verb tore or archaic tare, torn or archaic tare, tearing)
transitive verb
2.
to tear wrappings from a package
to tear a book from someone's hands
3.
to distress greatly
anguish that tears the heart
4.
to divide or disrupt
a country torn by civil war
5.
to wound or injure by or as if by rending; lacerate
6.
to produce or effect by rending
to tear a hole in one's coat
intransitive verb
SYNONYMS 1. tear, rend, rip mean to pull apart. To tear is to split the fibers of something by pulling apart, usually so as to leave ragged
or irregular edges: to tear open a letter. rend implies force or violence in tearing apart or in pieces: to rend one's clothes in grief. rip implies vigorous tearing asunder, esp. along a seam or line: to rip the sleeves out of a coat. 3. shatter, afflict. 4. split. 5. cut, mangle. 19. rip.8.
to become torn
9.
to make a tear or rent
10.
The wind tore through the trees
cars tearing up and down the highway
I was tearing around all afternoon trying to find sandals for the beach
11. See tear at
12. See tear down
13. See tear into
14. See tear it
15. See tear off
16. See tear one's hair
17. See tear up
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
tearable adjective
tearableness
noun
tearer
noun
Word origin
[bef. 900; ME teren (v.), OE teran; c. D teren, G zehren to consume, Goth distairan to destroy, Gk dérein to flay]Examples of 'tear' in a sentence
tear
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In other languages
tear
British English: tear
/tɪə/ NOUN
from eye Tears are the liquid that comes out of your eyes when you cry.
Her face was wet with tears.
- American English: tear /ˈtɪər, ˈtɛər/ from eye
- Arabic: دَمْعَة
- Brazilian Portuguese: lágrima
- Chinese: 眼泪
- Croatian: suza
- Czech: slza
- Danish: tåre
- Dutch: traan oogvocht
- European Spanish: lágrima
- Finnish: kyynel
- French: larme
- German: Träne
- Greek: δάκρυ
- Italian: lacrima
- Japanese: 涙 from eye
- Korean: 눈물
- Norwegian: tåre
- Polish: łza
- European Portuguese: lágrima
- Romanian: lacrimă
- Russian: слеза
- Latin American Spanish: lágrima
- Swedish: tår från öga
- Thai: น้ำตา
- Turkish: gözyaşı
- Ukrainian: сльоза
- Vietnamese: nước mắt
British English: tear
/tɛə/ NOUN
rip A tear in something is a hole that has been made in it.
His trousers had a tear in one knee.
- American English: tear /ˈtɪər, ˈtɛər/ split
- Arabic: تـَمَزُّق
- Brazilian Portuguese: rasgo
- Chinese: 破处
- Croatian: poderotina
- Czech: trhlina
- Danish: flænge
- Dutch: scheur
- European Spanish: desgarrón
- Finnish: repeämä
- French: accroc
- German: Riss
- Greek: σκίσιμο
- Italian: strappo
- Japanese: 破れ目 split
- Korean: 구멍
- Norwegian: revne
- Polish: rozdarcie
- European Portuguese: rasgo
- Romanian: ruptură
- Russian: разрыв
- Latin American Spanish: desgarrón
- Swedish: reva
- Thai: รอยฉีก
- Turkish: yırtık
- Ukrainian: розрив
- Vietnamese: chỗ rách
British English: tear
/tɛə/ VERB
If you tear something, you pull it into pieces or make a hole in it.
Try not to tear the paper.
- American English: tear /ˈtɛər/
- Arabic: يـُمَزِّقُ
- Brazilian Portuguese: rasgar
- Chinese: 扯
- Croatian: poderati
- Czech: trhat
- Danish: flænge
- Dutch: scheuren
- European Spanish: rasgar
- Finnish: repiä
- French: déchirer
- German: zerreißen
- Greek: σκίζω
- Italian: strappare
- Japanese: 破る
- Korean: 찢다
- Norwegian: rive
- Polish: podrzeć się
- European Portuguese: rasgar
- Romanian: a rupe
- Russian: рвать разделять на части резким движением
- Latin American Spanish: rasgar
- Swedish: riva
- Thai: ฉีก
- Turkish: yırtmak
- Ukrainian: рвати
- Vietnamese: làm rách
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Definition of tear from the Collins English Dictionary
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