I.
noun from the eyes
ADJECTIVE
▪ angry , bitter , emotional
▪
There were angry ~s in Lily's eyes.
▪ happy
▪ burning , fresh , hot , salty , warm
▪
Her eyes were blinded by scalding ~s.
▪ genuine , real , wet ( esp. AmE )
▪ crocodile (= not sincere)
▪
They weep crocodile ~s for the poor, but do nothing to help.
▪ great , huge , large
▪ single , solitary , stray
▪
I wiped a stray ~ from my eye.
▪ silent
▪ helpless , sudden , uncontrollable
▪ unshed
▪
His eyes were bright with unshed ~s.
VERB + TEAR
▪ cry , shed ( also figurative ), weep
▪
I won't shed any ~s when Moira retires.
▪
She wept silent ~s when she heard his name.
▪ brush , brush away , dry , wipe , wipe away
▪
I picked the little girl up and helped dry her ~s.
▪
She wiped a ~ from her eye.
▪ blink back , choke back , fight back , hold back
▪
He had to fight back ~s of frustration.
▪ stop
▪
I couldn't stop the ~s.
▪ hide
▪
He turned away to hide his ~s.
▪ break down in ~s , burst into ~s
▪
She broke down in ~s in court.
▪ move sb to ~s , reduce sb to ~s
▪
His father's angry shouting reduced the little boy to ~s.
▪ brim with ~s , fill with ~s
▪
His eyes filled with ~s.
▪ end in ~s (= to have an unhappy result)
TEAR + VERB
▪ appear , brim in sb's eyes , come , escape , fill sb's eyes , form , gather , spill from sb's eyes , spill over , spring into/to sb's eyes , start , well , well up
▪
He could never read the letter without ~s coming to his eyes.
▪
Her ~s spilled over her cheeks.
▪ drip , drop , fall , flow , overflow , stream (from sth)
▪
She ran out of the room, ~s streaming from her eyes.
▪ course down sth , flood down sth , pour down sth , roll down sth , run down sth , slide down sth , slip down sth , spill down sth , stream down sth , trickle down sth
▪
A single ~ rolled slowly down her cheek.
▪ stain sth , streak sth
▪
Tears streaked her face.
▪ glisten
▪
Tears glistened in her eyes.
▪ stand
▪
Tears stood in Oliver's eyes.
▪ blur sth , cloud sth
▪
Tears blurred his vision.
▪ burn (sth) , prick sth , prick at sth , prick in sth , sting sb's eyes
▪
She felt ~s pricking her eyelids.
▪ dry , dry up
TEAR + NOUN
▪ duct , gland
▪ gas
▪
The police fired ~ gas at the protesters.
PREPOSITION
▪ in ~s
▪
He came to me in ~s.
▪ through your ~s
▪
She tried to smile through her ~s.
▪ ~ for
▪
He shed no ~s for his lost youth.
▪ ~ of
▪
~s of happiness
▪ ~ over
▪
It turned out to be a lot of ~s over nothing.
PHRASES
▪ bring ~s to sb's eyes
▪
It brings ~s to your eyes to see them having such fun.
▪ close to ~s , near to ~s
▪
More than once I came near to ~s.
▪ a flood of ~s , floods of ~s
▪
We were in floods of ~s at the end of the movie.
▪ a mist of ~s
▪
I watched it all through a mist of ~s.
▪ on the verge of ~s
▪ with ~s in your eyes
▪ wet with ~s
▪
Her cheeks were wet with ~s.
II.
noun in fabric, paper, etc.
VERB + TEAR
▪ have
▪ make
▪ fix , mend ( esp. BrE )
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ in
▪
This sheet has a ~ in it.
PHRASES
▪ wear and ~ (= the damage to objects, furniture, etc. that is the result of normal use)
III.
verb
Tear is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ dress , ↑ fabric , ↑ flesh , ↑ gash , ↑ gaze , ↑ hole , ↑ ligament , ↑ muscle , ↑ page , ↑ paper , ↑ sheet , ↑ tendon
IV.
verb
ADVERB
▪ badly
▪
His clothes were badly torn.
▪ easily
▪
Careful—the fabric ~s very easily.
▪ almost , nearly , practically
▪
The storm nearly tore the roof off.
▪ apart ( also figurative ), asunder ( literary , figurative ), off , out , up
▪
The dogs tore the fox apart.
▪
We tore the other team apart in the second half.
▪
communities that are being torn asunder by crime
VERB + TEAR
▪ threaten to
PREPOSITION
▪ at
▪
The fabric snagged and tore at the seams.
▪ from
▪
I tore another sheet from the pad.
▪ off
▪
She tore the label off the suitcase.
▪ on
▪
She tore her skirt on a nail.
▪ out of
▪
Several pages had been torn out of the book.
PHRASES
▪ ~ free , ~ loose
▪
She tore herself free.
▪
One error and he would have been torn loose and hurled overboard by the wind.
▪ ~ sth in half , ~ sth in two
▪
She tore the piece of paper in half.
▪ ~ sb limb from limb
▪
He threatened to ~ me limb from limb.
▪ ~ sth open
▪
She tore the letter open.
▪ ~ sth to pieces , ~ sth to shreds ( often figurative )
▪
The critics tore his last movie to shreds.