INDEX:
1. to damage paper, cloth, or clothing
2. to deliberately destroy something by tearing it into pieces
3. to become torn accidentally
4. when something has been torn
5. a hole that is made when something is torn
RELATED WORDS
to cry because you are unhappy : ↑ CRY
see also
↑ CUT
↑ BREAK
↑ DAMAGE
↑ DESTROY
↑ SPOIL
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1. to damage paper, cloth, or clothing
▷ tear /teəʳ/ [transitive verb]
to damage paper, cloth, or clothing by pulling it too hard, or by letting it touch something sharp :
▪ She unwrapped the present carefully, trying not to tear the paper.
tear something on something
▪ I had torn the knees of my jeans on the rough gravel.
tear something out/tear out something
▪ She tore a page out of her diary and wrote her phone number on it.
tear something off/tear off something
▪ The attendant tore off the parking ticket and handed it back.
tear something open/tear open something
▪ Peterson tore open the envelope.
tear a hole in something
▪ I tore a hole in my jacket, climbing over the fence.
tear something in half
▪ He took my ticket and tore it in half. ‘Row J, seats 8 and 9.’
▷ rip /rɪp/ [transitive verb]
to tear something quickly or violently :
▪ Stop pulling my dress! You’ll rip it!
rip something out/rip out something
▪ You can see where the label has been ripped out.
rip something on something
▪ I ripped my skirt on a broken chair.
rip something open/rip open something
▪ Beth excitedly ripped open the package.
▷ ladder /ˈlædəʳ/ [transitive verb] British
if a woman ladders her tights or stockings, she accidentally tears them so that a line of stitches becomes loose :
▪ Damn! I’ve laddered my tights!
▷ split /splɪt/ [transitive verb]
if you split your trousers, a long straight tear appears in them when you bend over or when you try to put on a pair that is too tight :
▪ He bent down and split his trousers.
2. to deliberately destroy something by tearing it into pieces
▷ tear up /ˌteər ˈʌp/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to tear a piece of paper or cloth into many pieces :
tear up something
▪ After Alan left, she tore up all his old letters.
tear something up
▪ Pamela tore the note up and threw it in the wastebasket.
torn-up /ˈtɔːʳn ʌp/ [adjective]
▪ Use torn-up newspaper to line the bottom of the rabbit’s cage.
▷ rip up /ˌrɪp ˈʌp/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to tear something into pieces quickly or angrily :
rip up something
▪ Martine ripped up her essay and started again.
rip something up
▪ He’d get frustrated and throw his pencil down and rip his paper up.
▷ shred /ʃred/ [transitive verb]
to deliberately destroy letters, secret documents etc by putting them through a special machine which cuts them into long thin pieces :
▪ The superintendent gave his secretary some letters to shred.
▪ Some photographs and important documents -- the only evidence available -- had been shredded.
▷ tear/rip something to shreds /ˌteəʳ, ˌrɪp something tə ˈʃredz/ [verb phrase]
to tear a piece of paper into very small pieces, especially because you are angry :
▪ Karen tore his photograph to shreds.
▪ He tore out the page and ripped it to shreds.
3. to become torn accidentally
▷ tear /teəʳ/ [intransitive verb]
▪ My jacket caught on a nail and tore.
▪ Don’t pull on the cloth, it will tear.
tear easily
▪ Be careful, the paper tears easily.
▷ rip /rɪp/ [intransitive verb]
to become badly torn, especially as the result of a sudden movement :
▪ Tom heard his shorts rip as he climbed over the gate.
▪ My zipper was stuck, and the material around it ripped as I pulled on it.
▷ split /splɪt/ [intransitive verb]
if material splits, a long straight tear appears in it :
▪ Hudson’s coat had split right up the back.
▪ These shoes are so old the canvas had split.
4. when something has been torn
▷ torn /tɔːʳn/ [adjective]
when something made of cloth or paper has been torn :
▪ He was wearing torn trousers and a ragged jacket.
▪ The pages of the book were torn and faded.
get torn
▪ If the cover of a book gets torn, the library sends it to be repaired.
▷ be in shreds /biː ɪn ˈʃredz/ [verb phrase]
if a piece of cloth or paper is in shreds, it has been torn and damaged so much that it has almost fallen apart :
▪ The curtains hung in shreds and the carpet was worn thin.
▪ The clothes were handed down in the family, and by the time they reached the last child, they were in shreds.
▷ frayed /freɪd/ [adjective]
clothes or things made of cloth that are frayed are torn a little along the edges, usually because they have been used a lot :
▪ He had on frayed jeans and an old white shirt.
frayed at the cuffs/collar/edges etc
▪ The jacket was a little frayed at the cuffs.
▷ tattered /ˈtætəʳd/ [adjective]
cloth, paper, or a piece of clothing that is tattered is torn in many places, especially because it has been used a lot :
▪ A man in tattered blue dungarees was busy in the garage.
▪ The old diary was yellowed and tattered.
▷ ragged /ˈrægɪd, ˈrægəd/ [adjective]
clothes or things made of cloth that are ragged are torn and untidy, often because the people who own them are very poor :
▪ The blanket she wore over her shoulders was ragged and filthy.
▪ A man in ragged clothes was begging on the corner.
5. a hole that is made when something is torn
▷ tear /teəʳ/ [countable noun]
▪ How did you get that tear in your jacket ?
▪ There’s a small tear near the corner of the painting.
▷ rip /rɪp/ [countable noun]
a long hole that is made when something such as a piece of clothing is torn :
▪ The rips in the boat’s old sails had been patched again and again.
▪ A rip in a repair worker’s protective suit increases the risk of getting a shock as they work on the electricity lines.
▷ ladder British /run especially American /ˈlædəʳ, rʌn/ [countable noun]
a line of torn stitches in a pair of tights etc :
▪ There’s a run in these pantyhose.
get a ladder/run
▪ I got a ladder in my tights.