tear, rip, rend, split, cleave, rive mean to separate forcibly. tear implies pulling apart by force and leaving jagged edges.

tear noun (FROM EYES) B1 [ C usually plural ] a drop of salty liquid that flows from the eye, as a result of strong emotion, especially unhappiness, or pain:

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.

Tears are the drops of salty liquid that come out of your eyes when you are crying. Her eyes filled with tears. I just broke down and wept with tears of joy. I didn't shed a single tear.

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 …

Definition of tear verb in Oxford Advanced American Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

TEAR definition: to pull apart or in pieces by force, especially so as to leave ragged or irregular edges. See examples of tear used in a sentence.

tear sth out of/off/down, etc to remove something by pulling it quickly and violently:

Tears are the liquid that comes out of your eyes when you cry. If you tear something, you pull it into pieces or make a hole in it.

I was in tears (= crying) by the end of the movie. She burst into tears (= started crying) when she heard the news. (Definition of tear from the Webster's Essential Mini Dictionary © Cambridge …