Tear Definition | Definition of Tear at Dictionary.com

tear

1 [teer]

–noun

1.	a drop of the saline, watery fluid continually secreted by the lacrimal glands between the surface of the eye and the eyelid, serving to moisten and lubricate these parts and keep them clear of foreign particles.

2.	this fluid appearing in or flowing from the eye as the result of emotion, esp. grief.

3.	something resembling or suggesting a tear, as a drop of a liquid or a tearlike mass of a solid substance, esp. having a spherical or globular shape at one end and tapering to a point at the other.

4.	Glassmaking. a decorative air bubble enclosed in a glass vessel; air bell.

5.	tears, grief; sorrow.

–verb (used without object)

6.	to fill up and overflow with tears, as the eyes.

—Idiom

7.	in tears, weeping: He was in tears over the death of his dog.

Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME teer, OE tēar, tehher, taeher; c. OHG zahar, ON tār, Goth tagr, Gk dákry, L lacrima (see lachrymal ); (v.) ME teren, OE teheran, in teherende (ger.), deriv. of the n.

tear

2 [tair]

verb, tore or (Archaic

) tare, torn or (Archaic

) tare, tear⋅ing; noun

–verb (used with object)

1.	to pull apart or in pieces by force, esp. so as to leave ragged or irregular edges.

2.	to pull or snatch violently; wrench away with force: to tear wrappings from a package; to tear a book from someone's hands.

3.	to distress greatly: anguish that tears the heart.

4.	to divide or disrupt: a country torn by civil war.

5.	to wound or injure by or as if by rending; lacerate.

6.	to produce or effect by rending: to tear a hole in one's coat.

7.	to remove by force or effort: to be unable to tear oneself from a place.

–verb (used without object)

8.	to become torn.

9.	to make a tear or rent.

10.	to move or behave with force, violent haste, or energy: The wind tore through the trees; cars tearing up and down the highway; I was tearing around all afternoon trying to find sandals for the beach.

–noun

11.	the act of tearing.

12.	a rent or fissure.

13.	a rage or passion; violent flurry or outburst.

14.	Informal. a spree.

—Verb phrases

15.

tear at,

a.	to pluck violently at; attempt to tear: She tore at the bandages until they loosened.

b.	to distress; afflict: remorse that tears at one's soul.

16.

tear down,

a.	to pull down; destroy; demolish.

b.	to disparage or discredit: to tear down one's friends behind their backs.

17.

tear into, Informal.

a.	to attack impulsively and heedlessly: He tore into the food with a will.

b.	to attack verbally: She tore into him for being late for dinner.

18.	tear off, Slang. to perform or do, esp. rapidly or casually: to tear off a poem; to tear off a set of tennis.

19.

tear up,

a.	to tear into small shreds: He tore up the drawings because she had criticized them.

b.	to cancel or annul: to tear up a contract.

—Idioms

20.	tear it, Slang. to ruin all hope; spoil everything.

21.	tear one's hair, to tug at one's hair, as with anger or sorrow. Also, tear one's hair out.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME teren (v.), OE teran; c. D teren, G zehren to consume, Goth distairan to destroy, Gk dérein to flay

Related forms:

tear⋅a⋅ble, adjective

tear⋅a⋅ble⋅ness, noun

tearer, noun

Synonyms:
1. Tear, rend, rip mean to pull apart. To tear is to split the fibers of something by pulling apart, usually so as to leave ragged or irregular edges: to tear open a letter. Rend implies force or violence in tearing apart or in pieces: to rend one's clothes in grief. Rip implies vigorous tearing asunder, esp. along a seam or line: to rip the sleeves out of a coat. 3. shatter, afflict. 4. split. 5. cut, mangle. 12. rip.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To tear

tear¹ (târ)

v. tore (tôr, tōr), torn (tôrn, tōrn), tear·ing, tears

v. tr.

To pull apart or into pieces by force; rend.
To make (an opening) by ripping: tore a hole in my stocking.
To lacerate (the skin, for example).
To separate forcefully; wrench: tore the wrappings off the present.
To divide or disrupt: was torn between opposing choices; a country that was torn by strife.

v. intr.

To become torn.
To move with heedless speed; rush headlong.

The act of tearing.
The result of tearing; a rip or rent.
A great rush; a hurry.
Slang A carousal; a spree.
To move about in excited, often angry haste.
To lead a wild life.
To pull at or attack violently: The dog tore at the meat.
To distress greatly: Their plight tore at his heart.
To demolish: tear down old tenements.
To take apart; disassemble: tear down an engine.
To vilify or denigrate.
To tear to pieces.
To make an opening in: tore up the sidewalk to add a drain.

Phrasal Verb(s):
tear around Informal

To move about in excited, often angry haste.
To lead a wild life.

tear at

To pull at or attack violently: The dog tore at the meat.
To distress greatly: Their plight tore at his heart.

tear awayTo remove (oneself, for example) unwillingly or reluctantly.
tear down

To demolish: tear down old tenements.
To take apart; disassemble: tear down an engine.
To vilify or denigrate.

tear intoTo attack with great vigor or violence: tore into the food; tore into his opponent.
tear off Informal To produce hurriedly and casually: tearing off article after news article.
tear up

To tear to pieces.
To make an opening in: tore up the sidewalk to add a drain.

Idiom(s):
tear (one's) hairTo be greatly upset or distressed.

[Middle English teren, from Old English teran; see der- in Indo-European roots.]
tear'er n.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to separate or pull apart by force. Tear involves pulling something apart or into pieces: "She tore the letter in shreds" (Edith Wharton).
Rip implies rough or forcible tearing: Carpenters ripped up the old floorboards.
Rend usually refers to violent tearing or wrenching apart: "Come as the winds come, when/Forests are rended" (Sir Walter Scott).
To split is to cut or break something into parts or layers, especially along its entire length or along a natural line of division: "They [wood stumps] warmed me twice—once while I was splitting them, and again when they were on the fire" (Henry David Thoreau).
Cleave most often refers to splitting with or as if with a sharp instrument: The butcher cleft the side of beef into smaller portions.

tear² (tîr)

1. A drop of the clear salty liquid that is secreted by the lachrymal gland of the eye to lubricate the surface between the eyeball and eyelid and to wash away irritants.
2. tears A profusion of this liquid spilling from the eyes and wetting the cheeks, especially as an expression of emotion.
3. tears The act of weeping: criticism that left me in tears.
A drop of a liquid or hardened fluid.

intr.v. teared, tear·ing, tears
To fill with tears.

[Middle English, from Old English tēar; see dakru- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tear

Tear\, n. (Glass Manuf.) A partially vitrified bit of clay in glass.

Tears of St. Lawrence, the Perseid shower of meteors, seen every year on or about the eve of St. Lawrence, August 9th.

T. of wine, drops which form and roll down a glass above the surface of strong wine. The phenomenon is due to the evaporation of alcohol from the surface layer, which, becoming more watery, increases in surface tension and creeps up the sides until its weight causes it to break.

Tear

Tear\ (t[=e]r), n. [AS. te['a]r; akin to G. z["a]rhe, OHG. zahar, OFries. & Icel. t[=a]r, Sw. t[*a]r, Dan. taare, Goth. tagr, OIr. d[=e]r, W. dagr, OW. dacr, L. lacrima, lacruma, for older dacruma, Gr. da`kry, da`kryon, da`kryma. [root]59. Cf. Lachrymose.]

1. (Physiol.) A drop of the limpid, saline fluid secreted, normally in small amount, by the lachrymal gland, and diffused between the eye and the eyelids to moisten the parts and facilitate their motion. Ordinarily the secretion passes through the lachrymal duct into the nose, but when it is increased by emotion or other causes, it overflows the lids.

And yet for thee ne wept she never a tear. --Chaucer.

2. Something in the form of a transparent drop of fluid matter; also, a solid, transparent, tear-shaped drop, as of some balsams or resins.

Let Araby extol her happy coast, Her fragrant flowers, her trees with precious tears. --Dryden.

3. That which causes or accompanies tears; a lament; a dirge. [R.] "Some melodous tear." --Milton.

Note: Tear is sometimes used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, tear-distilling, tear-drop, tear-filled, tear-stained, and the like.

Tear

Tear\ (t[^a]r), v. t. [imp. Tore (t[=o]r), ((Obs. Tare) (t[^a]r); p. p. Torn (t[=o]rn); p. pr. & vb. n. Tearing.] [OE. teren, AS. teran; akin to OS. farterian to destroy, D. teren to consume, G. zerren to pull, to tear, zehren to consume, Icel. t[ae]ra, Goth. gata['i]ran to destroy, Lith. dirti to flay, Russ. drate to pull, to tear, Gr. de`rein to flay, Skr. dar to burst. [root]63. Cf. Darn, Epidermis, Tarre, Tirade.]

1. To separate by violence; to pull apart by force; to rend; to lacerate; as, to tear cloth; to tear a garment; to tear the skin or flesh.

Tear him to pieces; he's a conspirator. --Shak.

2. Hence, to divide by violent measures; to disrupt; to rend; as, a party or government torn by factions.

3. To rend away; to force away; to remove by force; to sunder; as, a child torn from its home.

The hand of fate Hath torn thee from me. --Addison.

4. To pull with violence; as, to tear the hair.

5. To move violently; to agitate. "Once I loved torn ocean's roar." --Byron.

To tear a cat, to rant violently; to rave; -- especially applied to theatrical ranting. [Obs.] --Shak.

To tear down, to demolish violently; to pull or pluck down.

To tear off, to pull off by violence; to strip.

To tear out, to pull or draw out by violence; as, to tear out the eyes.

To tear up, to rip up; to remove from a fixed state by violence; as, to tear up a floor; to tear up the foundation of government or order.

Tear

Tear\, v. i. 1. To divide or separate on being pulled; to be rent; as, this cloth tears easily.

2. To move and act with turbulent violence; to rush with violence; hence, to rage; to rave.

Tear

Tear\, n. The act of tearing, or the state of being torn; a rent; a fissure. --Macaulay.

Wear and tear. See under Wear, n.

Language Translation for : tear

Spanish: lágrima,

German: die Träne,

Japanese: 涙

More Translations »

tear (n.)

"water from the eye," O.E. tear, from earlier teahor, tæhher, from P.Gmc. *takh-, *tagr- (cf. O.N., O.Fris. tar, O.H.G. zahar, Ger. Zähre, Goth. tagr "tear"), from PIE *dakru-/*draku- (cf. L. lacrima, Old L. dacrima, Ir. der, Welsh deigr, Gk. dakryma). The O.E. verb tæherian did not survive into M.E.; the modern verb is attested from c.1650, mainly in Amer.Eng. Tear gas first recorded 1917; tear-jerker is attested from 1921 (first in ref. to writing of James Whitcomb Riley), on model of soda jerker.

tear (v.)

"pull apart," O.E. teran (class IV strong verb; past tense tær, pp. toren), from P.Gmc. *teran (cf. O.S. terian, M.Du. teren "to consume," O.H.G. zeran "to destroy," Ger. zehren, Goth. ga-tairan "to tear, destroy"), from PIE *der- "tear" (cf. Skt. drnati "cleaves, bursts," Gk. derein "to flay," Arm. terem "I flay," O.C.S. dera "to burst asunder," Bret. darn "piece"). The O.E. past tense survived long enough to get into Bible translations as tare before giving place 17c. to tore, which is from the old pp. toren. Sense of "to pull by force" (away from some situation or attachment) is attested from 1297. The noun meaning "act of tearing" is attested from 1666. To be torn between two things (desires, loyalties, etc.) is from 1871.

Main Entry: ¹tear
Pronunciation: 'ti(&)r
Function: noun
1 a : a drop of clear saline fluid secreted by the lacrimal gland and diffusedbetween the eye and eyelids to moisten the parts and facilitate their motion b tears pl : a secretion of profuse tears that overflow the eyelids and dampen the face
2 : a transparent drop of fluid or hardened fluid matter (as resin)

Main Entry: ²tear
Function: intransitive verb
: to fill with tears : shed tears tear>

Main Entry: ³tear
Pronunciation: 'ta(&)r, 'te(&)r
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: tore /'tO(&)r, 'to(&)r/;torn /'tO(&)rn, 'to(&)rn/; tear·ing
: to wound by or as if by pulling apart by force <tear the skin>

Main Entry: ⁴tear
Function: noun
: a wound made by tearing a bodily part tear> tear in hisrotator cuff>

tear ¹ (târ)
n.
A rip or rent in a material or structure.

tear ² (tēr)
n.
A drop of the clear salty liquid that is secreted by the lacrimal gland of the eye to lubricate the surface between the eyeball and eyelid and to wash away irritants.

tear (tîr) Pronunciation Key
A drop of the clear salty liquid secreted by glands (lacrimal glands) in the eyes. Tears wet the membrane covering the eye and help rid the eye of irritating substances.

tear

In addition to the idioms beginning with tear, also see rip (tear) into; wear and tear. Also see under tears; torn.

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