Tear, v. t. [imp. Tore, ((Obs. Tare) (; p. p. Torn; p. pr. & vb. n. Tearing.]
Etymology: [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.
1 more senses
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.
3 other Webster entries under this spelling
Tear, n.
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, 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.
The act of tearing, or the state of being torn; a rent; a fissure. Macaulay. Wear and tear. See under Wear, n.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for tear; he lists it under rend.
Where he writes about it:
Rend and tear are applied to the separating of textile substances into parts by force violently applied (rend also to frangible substances), tear being the milder, rend the stronger word. — from rend
To lacerate is to tear roughly the flesh or animal tissue, as by the teeth of a wild beast; a lacerated wound is distinguished from a wound made by a clean cut or incision. — from rend
To burst or rupture is to tear or rend by force from within, burst denoting the greater violence; as, to burst a gun; to rupture a blood-vessel; a steam-boiler may be ruptured when its substance is made to divide by internal pressure without explosion. — from rend