From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Tear \Tear\ (t[^a]r), v. t. [imp. {Tore} (t[=o]r), ((Obs.
{Tare}) (t[^a]r); p. p. {Torn} (t[=o]rn); p. pr. & vb. n.
{Tearing}.] [OE. teren, AS. teran; akin to OS. farterian to
destroy, D. teren to consume, G. zerren to pull, to tear,
zehren to consume, Icel. t>ae/ra, Goth. gata['i]ran to
destroy, Lith. dirti to flay, Russ. drate to pull, to tear,
Gr. de`rein to flay, Skr. dar to burst. [root]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.
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Tear him to pieces; he's a conspirator. --Shak.
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2. Hence, to divide by violent measures; to disrupt; to rend;
as, a party or government torn by factions.
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3. To rend away; to force away; to remove by force; to
sunder; as, a child torn from its home.
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The hand of fate
Hath torn thee from me. --Addison.
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4. To pull with violence; as, to tear the hair.
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5. To move violently; to agitate. "Once I loved torn ocean's
roar." --Byron.
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{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.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
tearing
adj 1: marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions;
inclined to react violently; fervid; "fierce loyalty";
"in a tearing rage"; "vehement dislike"; "violent
passions" [syn: {fierce}, {tearing}, {vehement},
{violent}, {trigger-happy}]
n 1: shedding tears [syn: {lacrimation}, {lachrymation},
{tearing}, {watering}]
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