Tore I Torn Hole Letter Extra Examples Quickly

• i tore my jeans on the fence.
• i tore a hole in my jeans.
• he tore the letter in two.
• i tore the picture into pieces.

tear1

Verb Forms

1. to damage something by pulling it apart or into pieces or by cutting it on something sharp; to become damaged in this way
• SYNONYM rip
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/rip_1
• I tore my jeans on the fence.
• I tore a hole in my jeans.
• He tore the letter in two.
• I tore the picture into pieces.
• The letter had been torn to shreds.
• His clothes were badly torn.
• Careful—the fabric tears very easily.
• I tore the package open.
• I tore open the package.

Extra Examples

• The fabric snagged and tore at the seams.
• His jacket had been torn to shreds on the barbed wire.
2. to make a hole in something by force
• SYNONYM rip
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/rip_1
• The blast tore a hole in the wall.
3. to remove something from something else by pulling it roughly or violently
• SYNONYM rip
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/rip_1
• The storm nearly tore the roof off.
• I tore another sheet from the pad.
• He tore his clothes off (= took them off quickly and carelessly) and dived into the lake.

Extra Examples

• an article torn from a magazine
• Several pages had been torn out of the book.
• She tore the label off the suitcase.
• Our posters were torn down as quickly as we could put them up.
4. to pull yourself/somebody away by force from somebody/something that is holding you or them
• She tore herself from his grasp.
• He tore himself free.
• One error and he would have been torn loose and hurled overboard by the squalling wind.
5. to injure a muscle, etc. by stretching it too much
• a torn ligament/muscle
• She's torn a ligament in her right hand.
• She tore a calf muscle playing squash.
6. to move somewhere very quickly or in an excited way
• He tore off down the street.
• A truck tore past the gates.

Extra Examples

• The girls looked at each other and tore off towards the house.
• A dog was tearing along the road beside the truck.
7. very badly affected or damaged by something
• SEE ALSO war-torn
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/war-torn
• to bring peace to a strife-torn country
• a strike-torn industry
8. to be unable to decide or choose between two people, things or feelings
• I was torn between my parents and my friend.
9. to criticize somebody, or their work or ideas, very severely
10. to destroy or defeat somebody/something completely or criticize them or it severely
• We tore the other team apart in the second half.
• The critics tore his last movie to shreds.
11. to strongly affect you in an emotional way
12. to show that you are very angry or anxious about something
• She's keeping very calm—anyone else would be tearing their hair out.
• I felt like tearing my hair out in frustration.
13. to destroy the most important part or aspect of something
• Closing the factory tore the heart out of the community.
14. (to be) in a very great hurry
15. to attack somebody very violently
16. to speak angrily to somebody who has done something wrong
17. used to say that something has happened to cause your plans to fail

Word Origin

• Old English teran, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch teren and German zehren, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek derein ‘flay’. The noun dates from the early 17th cent.