Adjacent Words

Tear definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TEAR, n.
1. Tears are the limpid fluid secreted by the lacrymal gland, and appearing in the eyes, or flowing from them. A tear, in the singular, is a drop or a small quantity of that fluid. Tears are excited by passions, particularly by grief. This fluid is also called forth by any injury done to the eye. It serves to moisten the cornea and preserve its transparency, and to remove any dust or fine substance that enters the eye and gives pain.
2. Something in the form of a transparent drop of fluid matter.
TEAR, v.t. [L. tero.]
1. To separate by violence or pulling; to rend; to lacerate; as, to tear cloth; to tear a garment, to tear the skin or flesh. We use tear and rip in different senses. To tear is to rend or separate the texture of cloth; to rip is to open a seam, to separate parts sewed together.
2. To wound; to lacerate.
The women beat their breasts, their cheeks they tear.
3. To rend; to break; to form fissures by any violence; as, torrents tear the ground.
4. To divide by violent measures; to shatter; to rend; as a state or government torn by factions.
5. To pull with violence; as, to tear the hair.
6. To remove by violence; to break up.
Or on rough seas from their foundation torn.
7. To make a violent rent.
In the midst, a tearing groan did break
The name of Antony.
To tear from, to separate and take away by force; as an isle torn from its possessor.
The hand of fate
Has torn thee from me.
To tear off, to pull off by violence; to strip.
To tear out, to pull or draw out by violence; as, to tear out the eyes.
To tear up, to rip up; to remove from a fixed state by violence; as, to tear up a floor; to tear up the foundations of government or order.
TEAR, v.i. To rave; to rage; to rant; to move and act with turbulent violence; as a mad bull.
TEAR, n. A rent; a fissure. [Little used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a drop of the clear salty saline solution secreted by the lacrimal glands; "his story brought tears to her eyes" [syn: tear, teardrop]
2: an opening made forcibly as by pulling apart; "there was a rip in his pants"; "she had snags in her stockings" [syn: rip, rent, snag, split, tear]
3: an occasion for excessive eating or drinking; "they went on a bust that lasted three days" [syn: bust, tear, binge, bout]
4: the act of tearing; "he took the manuscript in both hands and gave it a mighty tear" v
1: separate or cause to separate abruptly; "The rope snapped"; "tear the paper" [syn: tear, rupture, snap, bust]
2: to separate or be separated by force; "planks were in danger of being torn from the crossbars"
3: move quickly and violently; "The car tore down the street"; "He came charging into my office" [syn: tear, shoot, shoot down, charge, buck]
4: strip of feathers; "pull a chicken"; "pluck the capon" [syn: pluck, pull, tear, deplume, deplumate, displume]
5: fill with tears or shed tears; "Her eyes were tearing"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English tζhher, t?ar; akin to Old High German zahar tear, Greek dakry Date: before 12th century 1. a. a drop of clear saline fluid secreted by the lacrimal gland and diffused between the eye and eyelids to moisten the parts and facilitate their motion b. plural a secretion of profuse tears that overflow the eyelids and dampen the face 2. a transparent drop of fluid or hardened fluid matter (as resin) 3. plural an act of weeping or grieving <broke into tears> • tearless adjective II. intransitive verb Date: before 12th century to fill with tears ; shed tears <eyes tearing in the November wind — Saul Bellow> III. verb (tore; torn; tearing) Etymology: Middle English teren, from Old English teran; akin to Old High German zeran to destroy, Greek derein to skin, Sanskrit d???ti he bursts, tears Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. a. to separate parts of or pull apart by force ; rend b. to wound by or as if by tearing ; lacerate <tear the skin> 2. to divide or disrupt by the pull of contrary forces <a mind torn with doubts> 3. a. to remove by force ; wrench — often used with off <tear a cover off a box> b. to remove as if by wrenching <tear your thoughts away from the scene> 4. to make or effect by or as if by tearing <tear a hole in the wall> intransitive verb 1. to separate on being pulled ; rend <this cloth tears easily> 2. a. to move or act with violence, haste, or force <went tearing down the street> b. to smash or penetrate something with violent force <the bullet tore through his leg> • tearable adjective • tearer noun Synonyms: tear, rip, rend, split, cleave, rive mean to separate forcibly. tear implies pulling apart by force and leaving jagged edges <tear up the letter>. rip implies a pulling apart in one rapid uninterrupted motion often along a line or joint <ripped the shirt on a nail>. rend implies very violent or ruthless severing or sundering <an angry mob rent the prisoner's clothes>. split implies a cutting or breaking apart in a continuous, straight, and usually lengthwise direction or in the direction of grain or layers <split logs for firewood>. cleave implies very forceful splitting or cutting with a blow <a bolt of lightning cleaved the giant oak>. rive occurs most often in figurative use <a political party riven by conflict>. IV. noun Date: 1611 1. a. damage from being torn; especially a hole or flaw made by tearing b. the act of tearing 2. a. a tearing pace ; hurry b. spree <got paid and went on a tear> c. a run of unusual success <the team was on a tear>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v. & n. --v. (past tore; past part. torn) 1 tr. (often foll. by up) pull apart or to pieces with some force (tear it in half; tore up the letter). 2 tr. a make a hole or rent in by tearing (have torn my coat). b make (a hole or rent). 3 tr. (foll. by away, off, etc.) pull violently or with some force (tore the book away from me; tore off the cover; tore a page out; tore down the notice). 4 tr. violently disrupt or divide (the country was torn by civil war; torn by conflicting emotions). 5 intr. colloq. go or travel hurriedly or impetuously (tore across the road). 6 intr. undergo tearing (the curtain tore down the middle). 7 intr. (foll. by at etc.) pull violently or with some force. --n. 1 a hole or other damage caused by tearing. 2 a torn part of cloth etc. Phrases and idioms: be torn between have difficulty in choosing between. tear apart 1 search (a place) exhaustively. 2 criticize forcefully. tear one's hair out behave with extreme desperation or anger. tear into 1 attack verbally; reprimand. 2 make a vigorous start on (an activity). tear oneself away leave despite a strong desire to stay. tear sheet a page that can be removed from a newspaper or magazine etc. for use separately. tear to shreds colloq. refute or criticize thoroughly. that's torn it Brit. colloq. that has spoiled things, caused a problem, etc. Derivatives: tearable adj. tearer n. Etymology: OE teran f. Gmc 2. n. 1 a drop of clear salty liquid secreted by glands, that serves to moisten and wash the eye and is shed from it in grief or other strong emotions. 2 a tearlike thing; a drop. Phrases and idioms: in tears crying; shedding tears. tear-drop a single tear. tear-duct a drain for carrying tears to the eye or from the eye to the nose. tear-gas gas that disables by causing severe irritation to the eyes. tear-jerker colloq. a story, film, etc., calculated to evoke sadness or sympathy. without tears presented so as to be learned or done easily. Derivatives: tearlike adj. Etymology: OE tear

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tear Tear, n. (Glass Manuf.) A partially vitrified bit of clay in glass. Tears of St. Lawrence, the Perseid shower of meteors, seen every year on or about the eve of St. Lawrence, August 9th. T. of wine, drops which form and roll down a glass above the surface of strong wine. The phenomenon is due to the evaporation of alcohol from the surface layer, which, becoming more watery, increases in surface tension and creeps up the sides until its weight causes it to break.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tear Tear (t[=e]r), n. [AS. te['a]r; akin to G. z["a]rhe, OHG. zahar, OFries. & Icel. t[=a]r, Sw. t[*a]r, Dan. taare, Goth. tagr, OIr. d[=e]r, W. dagr, OW. dacr, L. lacrima, lacruma, for older dacruma, Gr. da`kry, da`kryon, da`kryma. [root]59. Cf. Lachrymose.] 1. (Physiol.) A drop of the limpid, saline fluid secreted, normally in small amount, by the lachrymal gland, and diffused between the eye and the eyelids to moisten the parts and facilitate their motion. Ordinarily the secretion passes through the lachrymal duct into the nose, but when it is increased by emotion or other causes, it overflows the lids. And yet for thee ne wept she never a tear. --Chaucer. 2. Something in the form of a transparent drop of fluid matter; also, a solid, transparent, tear-shaped drop, as of some balsams or resins. Let Araby extol her happy coast, Her fragrant flowers, her trees with precious tears. --Dryden. 3. That which causes or accompanies tears; a lament; a dirge. [R.] ``Some melodous tear.'' --Milton. Note: Tear is sometimes used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, tear-distilling, tear-drop, tear-filled, tear-stained, and the like.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tear Tear, v. i. 1. To divide or separate on being pulled; to be rent; as, this cloth tears easily. 2. To move and act with turbulent violence; to rush with violence; hence, to rage; to rave.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tear Tear (t[^a]r), v. t. [imp. Tore (t[=o]r), ((Obs. Tare) (t[^a]r); p. p. Torn (t[=o]rn); p. pr. & vb. n. Tearing.] [OE. teren, AS. teran; akin to OS. farterian to destroy, D. teren to consume, G. zerren to pull, to tear, zehren to consume, Icel. t[ae]ra, Goth. gata['i]ran to destroy, Lith. dirti to flay, Russ. drate to pull, to tear, Gr. de`rein to flay, Skr. dar to burst. [root]63. Cf. Darn, Epidermis, Tarre, Tirade.] 1. To separate by violence; to pull apart by force; to rend; to lacerate; as, to tear cloth; to tear a garment; to tear the skin or flesh. Tear him to pieces; he's a conspirator. --Shak. 2. Hence, to divide by violent measures; to disrupt; to rend; as, a party or government torn by factions. 3. To rend away; to force away; to remove by force; to sunder; as, a child torn from its home. The hand of fate Hath torn thee from me. --Addison. 4. To pull with violence; as, to tear the hair. 5. To move violently; to agitate. ``Once I loved torn ocean's roar.'' --Byron. To tear a cat, to rant violently; to rave; -- especially applied to theatrical ranting. [Obs.] --Shak. To tear down, to demolish violently; to pull or pluck down. To tear off, to pull off by violence; to strip. To tear out, to pull or draw out by violence; as, to tear out the eyes. To tear up, to rip up; to remove from a fixed state by violence; as, to tear up a floor; to tear up the foundation of government or order.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tear Tear, n. The act of tearing, or the state of being torn; a rent; a fissure. --Macaulay. Wear and tear. See under Wear, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

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 • Tear up means the same as tear. 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. see also torn, wear and tear

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

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.

Moby Thesaurus

abrade, abrasion, amputate, assault, attack, autacoid, ax, bacchanal, bacchanalia, bacchanalian, ball the jack, barbarize, bark, barrel, bat, batter, bawling, bender, bile, binge, bisect, blemish, bloody, blubbering, boil, bolt, boom, booze, bout, bowl along, breach, break, breakage, breeze, breeze along, broach, brush, brutalize, bundle, burn, burst, bust, bustle, butcher, buzz about, career, carousal, carouse, carry on, carve, celebration, chafe, chalone, charge, chase, check, chink, chip, chop, chyle, claw, cleave, cleft, clip, colostrum, compotation, concussion, crack, crackle, craze, crevasse, crowd, cry, crying, cut, cut along, cut away, cut in two, cut off, cut open, damage, dart, dash, dash off, dash on, debauch, destroy, devil, dichotomize, digestive secretion, discharge, dispart, dissever, divaricate, divide, double-time, drinking bout, drunk, drunken carousal, endocrine, escapade, evulse, excise, excrete, festinate, fissure, fit of crying, flash burn, fleet, fling, flit, flood of tears, flutter, fly, fly low, fly open, fracture, fray, frazzle, fret, fuss, gall, gallop, gap, gash, gastric juice, get going, get moving, give out, gleet, go fast, go on, good cry, gore, greet, guzzle, hack, halve, hammer, haste, hasten, hew, hie, highball, hole, hormone, humor, hump, hump it, hurry, hurry about, hurry on, hurry through, hurry up, hurry-scurry, hurt, hurtle, hustle, ichor, impair, incise, incision, injure, injury, intestinal juice, jag, jigsaw, lacerate, laceration, lachryma, lachrymosity, lacrimatory, lactate, lactation, lance, lark, lash, lay open, lay waste, leap, lesion, leukorrhea, loot, lose no time, lymph, maim, make a fuss, make haste, make knots, make mincemeat of, mangle, matter, maul, melting mood, milk, mortal wound, move quickly, mucor, mucus, mug, mutilate, mutilation, nip, np, ope, open, open up, orgy, outstrip the wind, overflowing eyes, pancreatic juice, pare, part, peccant humor, phlegm, pierce, pillage, ploy, plunge, post, potation, pour it on, press on, produce, prostatic fluid, prune, pub-crawl, pull, pull apart, puncture, purulence, pus, push on, race, rage, ramp, rampage, randan, randy, rant, rape, rave, rend, rent, revel, rheum, ribbon, rift, riot, rip, rive, roar, ruin, run, rupture, rush, rush about, rush around, rush through, sack, saliva, salivary secretion, sanies, savage, saw, scald, scale, scamper, scissor, scoot, scorch, score, scotch, scour, scramble, scrape, scratch, scud, scuff, scurry, scuttle, secern, second-degree burn, secrete, semen, separate, serous fluid, serum, sever, shoot, shred, sizzle, skedaddle, skim, skin, slash, slaughter, slice, slit, snatch, snip, sniveling, snot, sobbing, sore, sow chaos, speed, sperm, splinter, split, sprain, spread, spread out, spree, spring open, sprint, spurt, stab, stab wound, step on it, stick, storm, storm along, strain, sunder, suppuration, sweat, sweep, swing open, symposium, tap, tear along, tear around, tear bottle, tear open, teardrop, tearful eyes, tearfulness, tears, terrorize, the whites, third-degree burn, throw open, thunder along, thyroxin, toot, trauma, traumatize, urine, vandalize, violate, wassail, water, weep, weepiness, weeping, whimpering, whisk, whittle, whiz, whiz about, wingding, wound, wounds immedicable, wreck, wrench, yank, zing, zip, zoom