/ rend; NAmE / verb
( rent , rent / rent; NAmE /) [ vn ] ( old use or literary ) to tear sth apart with force or violence :
They rent their clothes in grief.
( figurative )
a country rent in two by civil war
( figurative )
Loud screams rent the air.
—see also heart-rending
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WORD ORIGIN
Old English rendan ; related to Middle Low German rende .