on a tear
5
8.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
en racha
- Jon Baldwin was on a tear this summer and looked like he had a shot at breaking out.
- go on a tear
- stocks have been on a tear
- market has been on a tear
But Oregon was on a tear going into that game.
- But Oregon was on a tear going into that game.
- And now the the like the wisdom now is when you're in a slump, we're going to go watch you when you were on a tear.
Examples
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The Patriots have been on a tear offensively, averaging 33 points in their first three games.
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Roosmalen was on a tear before losing to Petrosyan in the finals and put his powerful right hand on display.
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The team's on a tear.
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Although, when both players do go on a tear, it becomes extremely difficult for teams to stop either of them.
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The stock market is also on a tear.
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But Oregon was on a tear going into that game.
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With respect to future projects, Olivia Wilde is seriously on a tear.
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Additionally, one of the things that makes this slump so fascinating is that Cano ended the regular season on a tear.
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The stock price has been on a tear—albeit with a bit of a lull in the middle of the year—since Apple reported blowout earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2012, rising more than $270/share, or over 65%, in nine months.
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Ravens LB Terrell Suggs has been on a tear this season, with at least one sack in every game.
Antonyms
How Successful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun 'tear' in this phrase has the less common sense 'a bout/spree', and the pattern 'on a X' can signal being in a particular state, so there is a partial compositional link to 'experiencing a spree'. However, the specific sense 'a run of repeated success or intense activity' is a metaphorical extension of that spree sense and relies on knowledge of an uncommon meaning of 'tear', so a B1 learner who simply knows the basic constituents would not reliably predict the MWE's sense.
Etymology
On a tear comes from the older use of tear meaning 'to rush quickly'; imagine someone moving so fast they seem to tear down the street or tear through a pile of work. That's why it now means 'a period of quick, strong success'.