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tear down

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tear

2  [tair] verb, tore or (Archaic) tare, torn or (Archaic) tare, tear⋅ing; noun
Use tear down in a Sentence
–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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tear 1   (târ)   
v.   tore (tôr, tōr), torn (tôrn, tōrn), tear·ing, tears

v.   tr.

  1. To pull apart or into pieces by force; rend.

  2. To make (an opening) by ripping: tore a hole in my stocking.

  3. To lacerate (the skin, for example).

  4. To separate forcefully; wrench: tore the wrappings off the present.

  5. To divide or disrupt: was torn between opposing choices; a country that was torn by strife.

v.   intr.

  1. To become torn.

  2. To move with heedless speed; rush headlong.

n.  

  1. The act of tearing.

  2. The result of tearing; a rip or rent.

  3. A great rush; a hurry.

  4. Slang A carousal; a spree.

  5. To move about in excited, often angry haste.

  6. To lead a wild life.

  7. To pull at or attack violently: The dog tore at the meat.

  8. To distress greatly: Their plight tore at his heart.

  9. To demolish: tear down old tenements.

  10. To take apart; disassemble: tear down an engine.

  11. To vilify or denigrate.

  12. To tear to pieces.

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

Phrasal Verb(s):
tear around Informal

  1. To move about in excited, often angry haste.

  2. To lead a wild life.

tear at

  1. To pull at or attack violently: The dog tore at the meat.

  2. To distress greatly: Their plight tore at his heart.

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

  1. To demolish: tear down old tenements.

  2. To take apart; disassemble: tear down an engine.

  3. 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

  1. To tear to pieces.

  2. 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.
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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Slang Dictionary
tear [tɛr]

  1. n.
    a wild drinking bout. (See also rip.) : Sally is off on a tear again.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 4tear
Function: noun
: a wound made by tearing a bodily part tear> tear in hisrotator cuff>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

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.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

tear down

  1. Demolish, take apart, as in They tore down the old tenements, or He loved to tear down old engines. [Early 1600s]

  2. Vilify or discredit, as in He's always tearing down someone or other. [First half of 1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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