I. rip 1 S3 /rɪp/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle ripped , present participle ripping )
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: Probably from Flemish rippen 'to tear off roughly' ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to tear something or be torn quickly and violently:
Her clothes had all been ripped.
The sails ripped under the force of the wind.
Impatiently, Sue ripped the letter open.
2 . [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to remove something quickly and violently, using your hands
rip something out/off/away/down
Gilly ripped out a sheet of paper from her notebook.
The buttons had been ripped off.
3 . rip something/somebody to shreds
a) to destroy something or damage it badly by tearing it in many places:
Jill’s kitten is ripping her sofa to shreds.
b) informal to strongly criticize someone, or criticize their opinions, remarks, behaviour etc:
I expected to have my argument ripped to shreds.
4 . [transitive] to copy music from a CD to an ↑ MP3 player or computer
5 . let rip informal to speak or behave violently or emotionally:
Fran took a slow deep breath, then let rip, yelling and shouting at him.
6 . let it/her rip informal to make a car, boat etc go as fast as it can:
Put your foot on the gas and let her rip!
rip something ↔ apart phrasal verb
to tear or pull something to pieces:
He was ripped apart by savage beasts in the forest.
rip somebody/something ↔ off phrasal verb informal
1 . to charge someone too much money for something SYN overcharge :
The agency really ripped us off.
2 . to steal something:
Somebody had come in and ripped off the TV and stereo.
3 . to take words, ideas etc from someone else’s work and use them in your own work as if they were your own ideas SYN plagiarize
⇨ ↑ rip-off (2)
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ tear to damage paper or cloth by pulling it too hard, or letting it touch something sharp:
She unwrapped the present carefully, trying not to tear the paper.
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I tore a hole in my jacket, climbing over the fence.
▪ rip to tear something quickly or violently:
Beth excitedly ripped open the package.
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Stop pulling my dress! You’ll rip it!
▪ split to tear your trousers or shirt when you put them on, because they are too tight for you:
He bent down and split his trousers.
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Oh no, now I’ve split my shirt.
▪ ladder British English if a woman ladders her ↑ tights or STOCKINGS , she tears them so that a long thin line appears in them:
Damn! I’ve laddered my tights!
▪ snag to catch a piece of clothing on something rough or sharp so that it tears slightly:
I snagged my shirt on a nail.
▪ shred to deliberately destroy letters, documents etc by cutting them into thin pieces, often by using a special machine:
In order to prevent fraud, it’s best to shred your bank statements.
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I went through all my papers shredding things I didn’t need.
▪ frayed torn a little along the edges – used about clothes, carpets etc that have been used a lot:
He was wearing an old pair of frayed jeans.
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The rug was a little frayed around the edges.
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The jacket was a little frayed at the cuffs.
rip on somebody/something phrasal verb American English informal
to complain a lot about someone or something
rip through something phrasal verb
to move through a place quickly and with violent force:
A wave of bombings ripped through the capital’s business district.
rip something ↔ up phrasal verb
to tear something into pieces:
Sue ripped his photo up into tiny bits.
II. rip 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
a long tear or cut:
a green leather jacket with a rip in the sleeve