Tear
[tɪə] or [tɛr]
Definition
(noun.) the act of tearing; 'he took the manuscript in both hands and gave it a mighty tear'.
(noun.) a drop of the clear salty saline solution secreted by the lacrimal glands; 'his story brought tears to her eyes'.
(verb.) fill with tears or shed tears; 'Her eyes were tearing'.
(verb.) to separate or be separated by force; 'planks were in danger of being torn from the crossbars'.
(verb.) separate or cause to separate abruptly; 'The rope snapped'; 'tear the paper'.
(verb.) move quickly and violently; 'The car tore down the street'; 'He came charging into my office'.
Edited by Hamilton--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) 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.
(n.) Something in the form of a transparent drop of fluid matter; also, a solid, transparent, tear-shaped drop, as of some balsams or resins.
(n.) That which causes or accompanies tears; a lament; a dirge.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) Hence, to divide by violent measures; to disrupt; to rend; as, a party or government torn by factions.
(v. t.) To rend away; to force away; to remove by force; to sunder; as, a child torn from its home.
(v. t.) To pull with violence; as, to tear the hair.
(v. t.) To move violently; to agitate.
(v. i.) To divide or separate on being pulled; to be rent; as, this cloth tears easily.
(v. i.) To move and act with turbulent violence; to rush with violence; hence, to rage; to rave.
(n.) The act of tearing, or the state of being torn; a rent; a fissure.
Editor: Natasha
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Rend, sever, sunder, pull asunder, pull in pieces, pull apart.[2]. Lacerate, laniate, lancinate, claw, mangle.[3]. Snatch away, force away.
Edited by Ethelred
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Rend, lacerate, shatter, sever, sunder
ANT:Mend, unite
Typist: Montague
Definition
n. a drop of the fluid secreted by the lachrymal gland appearing in the eyes: anything like a tear.—ns. Tear′-drop a tear; Tear′-duct the lachrymal or nasal duct.—adjs. Tear′-fall′ing (Shak.) shedding tears tender; Tear′ful abounding with or shedding tears: weeping.—adv. Tear′fully.—n. Tear′fulness.—adjs. Tear′less without tears: unfeeling; Tear′-stained (Shak.) stained with tears; Tear′y tearful
v.t. to draw asunder or separate with violence: to make a violent rent in: to lacerate.—v.i. to move or act with violence: to rage:—pa.t. tōre (B.) tāre; pa.p. tōrn.—n. something torn a rent: (slang) a spree.—n. Tear′er one who or that which tears: (slang) a boisterous person.—p.adj. Tear′ing great terrible rushing.—Tear and wear (see Wear); Tear one's self away to go off with great unwillingness; Tear the hair to pull the hair in a frenzy of grief or rage; Tear up to remove from a fixed state by violence: to pull to pieces.
Typed by Hannah
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream that you are in tears, denotes that some affliction will soon envelope you. To see others shedding tears, foretells that your sorrows will affect the happiness of others,
Inputed by Josiah
Examples
- There was a tear in each of Mrs. Bagnet's eyes, and her face was flushed and hurried. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Did I not see you trying to tear off another piece? Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- And Rupert--' she lifted her face to the sky, in a muse--'he CAN only tear things to pieces. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- But though the wear and tear of a free servant be equally at the expense of his master, it generally costs him much less than that of a slave. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- We beg them to drop a silent tear, and pass on. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- The last tear poor Fanny ever shed trembled in her eyes. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- There she satand who would have guessed how many tears she had been lately shedding? Jane Austen. Emma.
- The tears did not glisten there, as they did in Leinster's; but they fell in torrents as he attempted to take leave of me. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- She's not dead: her eye-lids are quivering, and here's wet tears a-coming down her cheeks. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- Tears rushed into my eyes; surely this was a wanton display of the power of the destroyer. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Tears would have been out of place. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- More than once I have surprised her in tears. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Some fearful hours went over me: indescribably was I torn, racked and oppressed in mind. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- The ground was torn up and in front of my head there was a splintered beam of wood. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- That was a lucky stroke of hers about the child torn from her arms shrieking. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from a book. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Sharp talons and cruel fangs had torn leg, arm, and breast literally to ribbons. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- The raw cotton was put in a hopper, where it was met by the teeth of the saws, and torn from the seeds. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- His handsome face was distorted with a spasm of despair, and his hands tore at his hair. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- He gnashed his teeth with rage, tore the hair from his head, and assailed with horrid imprecations the men who had been intrusted with the writ. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Fields, trees, and hedges, seemed to rush past them with the velocity of a whirlwind, so rapid was the pace at which they tore along. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- He tore off a strip of the blotting-paper and turned towards us the following hieroglyphic: GRAPHIC Cyril Overton was much excited. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- And when it tore him he crouched in silent subjection under it, and when it left him alone again, he refused to know of it. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- She plucked and tore at her arms for a little time; but I held her hands, and she soon dropped off. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- I only kept them quiet by tearing his card to pieces under my shawl. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Then, a score of others ran into the midst of these, beating their breasts, tearing their hair, and screaming, Foulon alive! Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- Slackbridge jumped up and stood beside him, gnashing and tearing. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Jem Spyers dashes out; and there he sees Chickweed, a-tearing down the street full cry. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- A very annoying feature until recently has been the losing of the lower film loop, due to poor patching of the film, tearing of the perforations in the films, etc. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- By good fortune he had been so well taught, that I was carried between his teeth without the least hurt, or even tearing my clothes. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
Edited by Edith