to tear
- verb
- /tɛr/
- This thing is a walking tank and just tears through my halberds.
I said, well, that's an impressive title and I tore through the book, learned a ton.
- I said, well, that's an impressive title and I tore through the book, learned a ton.
- So like as a football fan, although you smashed United last year, like it's so it's so good to see like a young black English striker tearing up the game at its peak.
Examples
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With typical speed and decisiveness, Napoleon tears up the plan to join Morrow at Innsbruck and orders a pursuit.
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I leave my tent and tear across the compound at a dead run.
Fiction book (1993) -
But when I saw you tearing down the road in that truck...
-
Yanking it off the floor, he tears through it like a wild man.
Fiction book (1990) -
The children were laughing as they tore down the hill on their sleds.
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He tore through the crowd to get to the front of the stage.
-
She tore past the finish line, breaking her personal record.
Synonyms
To move very quickly in one direction
Move forward quickly, often to attack
To move very fast and with great force like a train or meteor
Antonyms
Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
Slow damage that happens to things like cars or furniture from normal use over time
A gas that makes people's eyes burn and makes them cry, used by police to break up crowds
- Specialized
A small pouch near the inner corner of the eye that collects tears before they drain into the nose
How Fast
Surface Forms
Etymology
Tear (to move very quickly) comes from the same old idea of violent pulling or rushing; imagine someone 'tearing' down the street, which explains why it means to rush with great force.