I. tear 1 S3 W3 /tɪə $ tɪr/ BrE AmE noun
1 . [countable usually plural] a drop of salty liquid that comes out of your eye when you are crying:
The children were all in tears.
She came home in floods of tears.
I could see that Sam was close to tears.
Bridget suddenly burst into tears and ran out.
He was fighting back tears as he spoke.
A lot of people were moved to tears by his story.
He kissed her cheek, a gesture that brought tears to her eyes.
I must admit I shed a few tears when the school closed.
I saw grown men reduced to tears that day.
‘Please don’t talk like that,’ Ellen implored him, her eyes filling with tears.
By this time, tears were streaming down my face.
The tears he shed were tears of joy.
2 . it’ll (all) end in tears British English spoken used to warn someone that something they are doing will cause problems or arguments between people
⇨ bore somebody to tears at ↑ bore 2 (1), ⇨ crocodile tears at ↑ crocodile (4)
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COLLOCATIONS
■ phrases
▪ be in tears (=be crying)
When Evelyn put the phone down, she was in tears.
▪ be in floods of tears British English (=be crying a lot)
By the time she left, she was in floods of tears.
▪ be close to/on the verge of tears (=be almost crying)
He could see that May was close to tears.
▪ there are tears in sb’s eyes
As she watched, there were tears of joy in her eyes.
▪ tears of joy/frustration/rage etc
The tears he shed were tears of joy.
■ verbs
▪ burst into tears (=suddenly start crying)
She burst into tears and begged me to stay.
▪ break down in tears (=suddenly start crying)
I broke down in tears when I read the letter.
▪ be moved to tears (=be so upset that you cry)
Members of the audience were moved to tears by her singing.
▪ bring tears to sb’s eyes (=make somebody cry)
This unexpected kindness brings tears to my eyes.
▪ reduce somebody to tears (=make somebody cry)
His insults had reduced her to tears, but she had not changed her mind.
▪ hold back the tears (=not cry even though you feel like crying)
She gave her version of events, often struggling to hold back the tears.
▪ fight/choke/blink back tears (=try not to cry)
She fought back tears yesterday as she re-lived the horrors she had seen.
▪ shed/weep tears (=cry)
Don’t shed any tears for him.
▪ sb’s eyes fill with tears
His eyes filled with tears as he recalled his mother’s sacrifices.
▪ tears well up in sb’s eyes (=tears come into their eyes)
She broke off, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes.
▪ tears run/roll/stream down sb’s face
Oliver laughed until tears ran down his face.
■ adjectives
▪ bitter tears
She wept bitter tears of remorse for leaving her children behind.
▪ hot tears
I felt the hot tears running down my face.
II. tear 2 S2 W3 /teə $ ter/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense tore /tɔː $ tɔːr/, past participle torn /tɔːn $ tɔːrn/)
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: teran ]
1 . PAPER/CLOTH
a) [transitive] to damage something such as paper or cloth by pulling it hard or letting it touch something sharp SYN rip :
Be careful not to tear the paper.
His clothes were old and torn.
tear something on something
She realized she had torn her jacket on a nail.
tear something off
Tear off the slip at the bottom of this page and send it back to us.
tear something out (of something)
He tore a page out of his notebook and handed it to her.
The dog had torn a huge hole in the tent.
He picked up the envelope and tore it open.
She tore the letter to pieces and threw it in the bin.
Most of her clothes had been torn to shreds.
b) [intransitive] if paper or cloth tears, it splits and a hole appears, because it has been pulled too hard or has touched something sharp:
The paper is old and tears easily.
2 . MOVE QUICKLY [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to run or drive somewhere very quickly, especially in a dangerous or careless way:
She tore back into the house.
We tore down to the hospital.
He tore off into town.
3 . REMOVE SOMETHING [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to pull something violently from a person or place
tear something from somebody/something
He tore the letter from my hand.
A bridge was torn from the bank by the floodwaters.
tear something off something
High winds nearly tore the roof off the house.
4 . be torn
a) if you are torn, you are unable to decide what to do because you have different feelings or different things that you want
be torn between
She was torn between her love of dancing and her fear of performing in public.
He was torn two ways.
Jess was torn by anger and worry.
b) if a country or group is torn, it is divided because people in it have very different ideas and are arguing or fighting with each other:
The country was torn by civil war.
She spent two months in the war-torn city.
5 . MUSCLE [transitive] to damage a muscle or ↑ ligament :
She had torn a muscle in her leg.
6 . tear loose to move violently and no longer be attached to something:
One end had torn loose.
7 . tear somebody/something to shreds/pieces informal to criticize someone or something very severely:
He tore her arguments to shreds.
8 . tear somebody off a strip/tear a strip off somebody British English informal to talk to someone very angrily because they have done something wrong
9 . tear somebody limb from limb literary to attack someone in a very violent way
10 . be tearing your hair out British English informal to feel anxious and upset because you are worried, or because you have to deal with something that is very difficult:
I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to get done in time.
11 . be in a tearing hurry British English to be doing something very quickly because you are late
12 . tear sb’s heart (out)/tear at sb’s heart to make someone feel extremely upset:
The thought of her out there alone tore at my heart.
13 . that’s torn it! British English spoken old-fashioned used when something bad has happened that stops you from doing what you intended to do:
Oh, no, that’s torn it! I’ve left my keys in the car!
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ phrases
▪ tear a hole in something
She caught her shawl on a nail and tore a hole in it.
▪ tear something open
She tore open the envelope.
▪ tear something to pieces/shreds
The dogs tore the meat to pieces.
▪ tear something in two ( also tear something in half )
Jack snatched the letter from him and tore it in two.
• • •
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.
|
I tore a hole in my jacket, climbing over the fence.
▪ rip to tear something quickly or violently:
Beth excitedly ripped open the package.
|
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.
|
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.
tear somebody/something apart phrasal verb
1 . tear something ↔ apart to cause serious arguments in a group of people SYN rip apart :
Scandal is tearing the government apart.
a row that tore the family apart
2 . literary to separate people who are in a close relationship with each other:
Nothing can tear us apart!
3 . to make someone feel extremely unhappy or upset:
Seeing her so upset really tore him apart.
4 . tear something ↔ apart to break something violently into a lot of small pieces SYN rip apart :
Her body had been torn apart by wolves.
tear at somebody/something phrasal verb
to pull violently at someone or something:
The children were screaming and tearing at each other’s hair.
tear somebody away phrasal verb
to make yourself or someone else leave a place when you or they do not want to leave:
He was enjoying the fun and couldn’t tear himself away.
tear somebody away from
We finally managed to tear him away from the TV.
tear something ↔ down phrasal verb
to destroy a building deliberately:
A lot of the old tower blocks have been torn down to make way for new housing.
tear into somebody/something phrasal verb
1 . to attack someone by hitting them very hard:
The two boys tore into each other.
2 . to criticize someone very strongly and angrily:
From time to time she would really tear into her staff.
3 . to start doing something quickly, with a lot of energy:
I was amazed at the way she tore into her work.
tear something ↔ off phrasal verb
to remove your clothes as quickly as you can:
He tore off his clothes and dived into the water.
tear something ↔ up phrasal verb
1 . to tear a piece of paper or cloth into small pieces SYN rip up :
She tore up his letter and threw it away.
2 . to remove something from the ground by pulling or pushing it violently:
the remains of trees that had been torn up by the storm
3 . tear up an agreement/a contract etc to say that you no longer accept an agreement or contract:
threats to tear up the peace agreement
III. tear 3 /teə $ ter/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
a hole in a piece of cloth or paper where it has been torn
tear in
There was a huge tear in his shirt.
⇨ wear and tear at ↑ wear 2 (2)