to tear down
123
3.7
- phrasal verb
- /tɛr daʊn/
:
derribar
- Next year, the city plans to tear down the old library to make way for a new community center.
- tear down a wall
- tear down a building
We, we, we've torn down all of our heroes, all of our statues.
- We, we, we've torn down all of our heroes, all of our statues.
- NAFTA will tear down trade barriers between our three nations.
- I very much disrespect people who tear down buildings.
- If I bought this home, I would tear it down and build another one, All right?
- And if Eric doesn't like the house that he built, then Eric needs to tear it down and rebuild.
- They didn't, you know, tear the society down.
- OK, now we are going to have the unfortunate task of tearing this down.
- We're going to do a live stream before I tear all this down.
Examples
-
They decided to tear down the dilapidated building before it could pose a safety hazard.
-
The architects proposed to tear down the outdated stadium and replace it with a modern facility.
-
If I bought this home, I would tear it down and build another one, All right?
-
I heard they were gonna tear it down anyway.
-
My brother and I always meant to tear it down, put up the new one.
-
If not, you need to board it up, or you need to tear it down.
Academic text (2009) -
The city government and the original investors cannot agree about who should tear it down.
Academic text (2010) -
Decades of efforts to tear it down resulted in very little.
Academic text (2015) -
The last movie theater had closed and been torn down to make a parking lot five years ago.
Fiction book (1991) -
Well, why are they tearing the building down?
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Damage something so badly that it cannot be used or fixed
189
4.2
Destroy something so nothing is left
81
3.7
To make land or a building flat with the ground
63
4.6
Knock down a building or other large structure completely
57
3.2
Make a building or wall fall down suddenly
54
3.7
Completely destroy a building or large structure
50
3.0
To separate something into parts so it can be moved or fixed
40
3.4
To destroy a building so it is level with the ground
29
4.2
To use a large pushing machine to flatten land or to remove things by force
17
7.1
To completely destroy a building or area so nothing is left
15
7.6
To destroy something completely so nothing is left
7
3.8
To demolish a building so it is flat on the ground
1
3.9
To destroy or carry something away completely, for example by water
1
6.0
To completely destroy a building so nothing remains above ground
To completely tear down a building or town so nothing is left
Antonyms
How Complete
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to destroy or remove something completely' is directly derivable from combining 'tear' (to pull or rend apart) with the directional/completive particle 'down' which signals bringing something lower or dismantling it. This verb+particle composition is literal and common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Tear down comes from the image of people ripping a wall and pulling it down. To tear means to rip and down shows the direction it falls, so the phrase now means 'to destroy or remove' a building or structure.