tear
1 Americannoun
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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.
- Synonyms:
- teardrop
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this fluid appearing in or flowing from the eye as the result of emotion, especially grief.
to shed tears.
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something resembling or suggesting a tear, as a drop of a liquid or a tearlike mass of a solid substance, especially having a spherical or globular shape at one end and tapering to a point at the other.
little tears of morning dew.
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Glassmaking. a decorative air bubble enclosed in a glass vessel; air bell.
verb (used without object)
idioms
verb (used with object)
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to pull apart or in pieces by force, especially so as to leave ragged or irregular edges.
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to pull or snatch violently; wrench away with force.
to tear wrappings from a package; to tear a book from someone's hands.
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to distress greatly.
anguish that tears the heart.
- Synonyms:
- afflict, shatter, crack, break (one's) heart
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to divide or disrupt.
a country torn by civil war.
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to wound or injure by or as if by rending; lacerate.
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to produce or effect by rending.
to tear a hole in one's coat.
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to remove by force or effort.
to be unable to tear oneself from a place.
verb (used without object)
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to become torn.
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to make a tear or rent.
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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
verb phrase
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tear off to perform or do, especially rapidly or casually.
to tear off a poem; to tear off a set of tennis.
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tear into
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to attack impulsively and heedlessly.
He tore into the food with a will.
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to attack verbally.
She tore into him for being late for dinner.
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tear down
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to pull down; destroy; demolish.
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to disparage or discredit.
to tear down one's friends behind their backs.
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tear at
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to pluck violently at; attempt to tear.
She tore at the bandages until they loosened.
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to distress; afflict.
remorse that tears at one's soul.
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tear up
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to tear into small shreds.
He tore up the drawings because she had criticized them.
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to cancel or annul.
to tear up a contract.
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idioms
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tear it, to ruin all hope; spoil everything.
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tear one's hair, to manifest extreme anxiety, grief, anger, or frustration: Also tear one's hair out.
I'm so upset, I could just tear my hair out.
noun
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a drop of the secretion of the lacrimal glands See tears
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something shaped like a hanging drop
a tear of amber
verb
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to cause (material, paper, etc) to come apart or (of material, etc) to come apart; rip
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(tr) to make (a hole or split) in (something)
to tear a hole in a dress
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to hurry or rush
to tear along the street
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(tr; usually foll by away or from) to remove or take by force
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to cause pain, distress, or anguish (to)
it tore at my heartstrings to see the starving child
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informal to be angry, frustrated, very worried, etc
noun
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a hole, cut, or split
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the act of tearing
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a great hurry; rush
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slang showing a sudden burst of energy
Synonym Usage
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, especially along a seam or line: to rip the sleeves out of a coat.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tear1
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun ter(e), Old English tēar, tēor, tehher, taeher; cognate with Old High German zahar, Old Norse tār, Gothic tagr, Greek dákry, Latin lacrima; verb derivative of the noun; see also lachrymal
Origin of tear2
First recorded before 900; Middle English verb teren, ter(e), tern, Old English teran “to tear, rend, bite, lacerate,” cognate with Dutch teren, Old High German zeran “to destroy,” German zehren “to consume,” Gothic ga-tairan “to tear, destroy,” Greek dérein “to flay, skin”
Explanation
When you tear something, you rip it apart. You might tear a hole in your jeans if you catch them on something sharp, or you might tear up that love letter you wrote to your crush. The verb tear often refers to pulling something apart or making a hole — and has a noun form that describes the result of those actions — but it can also describe quick movement. If you tear out of the parking lot, you’re driving very fast. When you use tear in these ways, pronounce it to rhyme with hair. Another word, tear — what you do or produce when you cry — is spelled the same but pronounced to rhyme with peer.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Google-parent Alphabet has been on a tear the past year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
"Orcas often tear apart prey and share it with other members of the group, including calves and juveniles."
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
"The smell there is worse than the tear gas," Ishan said, laughing.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
“There’s this tear in his eye and you don’t know if he’s feeling sorry for himself or he’s looking at things to come,” Mitchell says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
I also promised myself to not tear out any pages.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Plate them with a small bowl of the remaining tare and serve with the smashed cucumber salad.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 24, 2019
He also had to deal with the unfortunate spoilage of his prized tare, the fermented, umami-rich sauce that Chiou had been nurturing since the neighborhood restaurant debuted last year.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 18, 2019
Skewers of duck meatballs à l’orange with tare, a soy-based yakitori sauce, is just one of a dozen yakitori-style options that anchor the menu.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2019
Each bag includes the tare weight to ensure you pay only for what you are buying.
From Slate ● May 7, 2018
Until Jade Dragon is no longer lonely and is reunited with at least one of her children, Fruitless Mountain will remain tare.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
“I have to care about Darrell’s heart,” he said, referring to himself and tearing up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
“It’s about just trying to figure out how to keep him grounded while the family is tearing him apart.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
It spread quickly, tearing through Bédar, leaving Malcolm, Annette and their friends having to make the quick decision to flee.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Their analysis suggests the event may represent an intermediate-mass black hole tearing apart and consuming a white dwarf star.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
But eventually his religious commitments began tearing him apart.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Sri Lanka's health authorities attribute the surge in dengue infections to a cyclone that tore through the island last December, scattering debris that have turned into new breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Commenters tore into the paper, arguing that the researchers erred in how they sliced up the data and that they failed to acknowledge previous work that had covered similar ground.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Kobe Bryant’s sneakers from the game in which he tore his Achilles tendon — and hit two free throws before he left the court — fetched $660,000.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Bavi earlier this week tore through the US Pacific territories, leaving tens of thousands of people without power Tuesday on Guam and the Northern Marianas.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
She tore through their apartment in a rage, pushing aside the salvaged set pieces they’d turned into furniture and pacing wildly, as though she was looking for something to tear apart.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
He sustained a fractured right fibula and tibia, a displaced ankle and torn ligaments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
At some point, it was torn into strips and used to wrap a mummy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
The more poetic among us might find a metaphor there; the major artery to Graham’s heart was literally torn in two.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
It may have also torn through the dashboard itself.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
I must have torn it up in my coat pocket after my interview and then done my best to forget about it.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.