TEAR

tear

(noun) the act of tearing; “he took the manuscript in both hands and gave it a mighty tear”

bust, tear, binge, bout

(noun) an occasion for excessive eating or drinking; “they went on a bust that lasted three days”

tear, teardrop

(noun) a drop of the clear salty saline solution secreted by the lacrimal glands; “his story brought tears to her eyes”

rip, rent, snag, split, tear

(noun) an opening made forcibly as by pulling apart; “there was a rip in his pants”; “she had snags in her stockings”

tear

(verb) fill with tears or shed tears; “Her eyes were tearing”

pluck, pull, tear, deplume, deplumate, displume

(verb) strip of feathers; “pull a chicken”; “pluck the capon”

tear

(verb) to separate or be separated by force; “planks were in danger of being torn from the crossbars”

tear, rupture, snap, bust

(verb) separate or cause to separate abruptly; “The rope snapped”; “tear the paper”

tear, shoot, shoot down, charge, buck

(verb) move quickly and violently; “The car tore down the street”; “He came charging into my office”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Verb

tear (third-person singular simple present tears, present participle tearing, simple past tore, past participle (now colloquial and nonstandard) tore or torn)

(transitive) To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate.

(transitive) To injure as if by pulling apart.

(transitive) To destroy or reduce abstract unity or coherence, such as social, political or emotional.

(transitive) To make (an opening) with force or energy.

(transitive, often, with off or out) To remove by tearing.

(transitive, of structures, with down) To demolish

(intransitive) To become torn, especially accidentally.

(intransitive) To move or act with great speed, energy, or violence.

(intransitive) To smash or enter something with great force.

Synonyms

• (break): rend, rip

• (remove by tearing): rip out, tear off, tear out

Noun

tear (plural tears)

A hole or break caused by tearing.

(slang) A rampage.

Etymology 2

Noun

tear (plural tears)

A drop of clear, salty liquid produced from the eyes by crying or irritation.

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

(glass manufacture) A partially vitrified bit of clay in glass.

That which causes or accompanies tears; a lament; a dirge.

Verb

tear (third-person singular simple present tears, present participle tearing, simple past and past participle teared)

(intransitive) To produce tears.

Anagrams

• 'eart, Ater, Reta, aret, rate, tare, tera-

Source: Wiktionary


Tear, n. Etym: [AS. teár; akin to G. zärhe, OHG. zahar, OFries. & Icel. tar, Sw. tår, Dan. taare, Goth. tagr, OIr. der, W. dagr, OW. dacr, L. lacrima, lacruma, for older dacruma, Gr. Lachrymose.]

1. (Physiol.)

Definition: 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, v. t. [imp. Tore, ((Obs. Tare) (; p. p. Torn; p. pr. & vb. n. Tearing.] Etym: [OE. teren, AS. teran; akin to OS. farterian to destroy, D. teren to consume, G. zerren to pull, to tear, zehren to consume, Icel. tæra, Goth. gataíran to destroy, Lith. dirti to flay, Russ. drate to pull, to tear, Gr. dar to burst. *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, 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, n.

Definition: The act of tearing, or the state of being torn; a rent; a fissure. Macaulay. Wear and tear. See under Wear, n.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

18 December 2024

ROOT

(noun) (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; “thematic vowels are part of the stem”


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