Search
Select the dictionary language
Tear
Grammatical Information
Animacy status
Inanimate
Composition
Simple
Countable
Plural form
tears
Examples
A tear rolled down her cheek.
02
a short period of excessive eating or drinking
Examples
She went on a sugar tear over the weekend.
03
a hole or rip caused by pulling something apart
Examples
The shirt had a tear on the sleeve.
04
the action of ripping or pulling something apart
Examples
The child made a tear in the paper.
to tear
01
to forcibly pull something apart into pieces
Transitive: to tear sth
Grammatical Information
Composition
Simple
Action verb
Regular
Present tense
tear
3rd person singular
tears
Present participle
tearing
Past simple
tore
Past participle
torn
Examples
In frustration, he started to tear the paper into small pieces.
02
to produce drops of salty liquid from the eyes
Dialect
American
AmericanIntransitive
Examples
The young girl could n't help but tear when she heard the sad news of her pet's passing.
03
to injure a muscle, etc. by stretching it too much
Transitive: to tear a muscle
Examples
He tore his hamstring while sprinting in the race.
04
to split or separate into pieces
Intransitive
Examples
The fabric began to tear along the seam as she tugged on it.
05
to move swiftly and energetically
Intransitive: to tear somewhere
Examples
He tore through the streets on his motorcycle.
Lexical Tree
tearful
tearless
teary
tear
