TEAR

(SEPARATE) [verb] [past simple] tore, [past participle] torn - to pull or be pulled apart, or to pull pieces offYou have to be very careful with books this old because the paper tends to tear very easily. [I]The pastry tore as I was putting it into the dish. [I]I tore my skirt on the chair as I stood up. [T]A couple of pages had been torn out of/from the book. [T]He tore the letter up (= tore it into small pieces). [M](figurative) The employer just tore up (= treated as totally unimportant) the agreement with the union without consultation. [M]She tore his cheque into shreds (= small pieces) and threw them in the bin. [T](figurative informal) The examiner just tore my thesis/me to shreds (= severely criticized my work/me). [T]The dogs tore the rabbit apart/to pieces. [T](figurative) Our department was torn apart/to pieces (= destroyed) by silly quarrels. [T](figurative) She tore the room apart (= moved everything, opened all drawers, cupboards, etc.) looking for her ring. [M]You've torn a hole in the knee of your trousers. [T]She tore (off) a strip of material to make a bandage. [T or M]If you tear off your clothes you remove them quickly and carelessly.I tore my sweaty clothes off and jumped into the shower.If you tear someone away from somewhere, you make them leave there.They had to tear the little boy away from his dead cat.I had to tear myself away from the party at 10 o'clock, but I didn't want to go.(esp. disapproving) To tear down something, esp. a vertical structure, is to destroy it.They tore down the most beautiful old buildings to put up those monstrosities.My fence was torn down in the storm.(UK and ANZ informal) If you tear a strip off someone/tear them off a strip you tell them off forcefully.If you are tearing your hair out over a problem, you are feeling a lot of anxiety over it.She's been tearing her hair out over the final chapter of her novel for the last month.The pictures of hungry children tore at my heart/tore my heart out (= made me very sad).Unfortunately, if he doesn't agree with you, he tends to tear into you (= attack you with words).