TEAR UP • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Tear up

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/tɛr əp/ Listen

verb

Tear v. t. (past tore, obs. tare; past part. torn; pres. part. tearing)

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. "Tear him to pieces; he's a conspirator."

2.

Hence, to divide by violent measures; to disrupt; to rend; as, a party or government torn by factions.

3.

To rend away; to force away; to remove by force; to sunder; as, a child torn from its home. "The hand of fate Hath torn thee from me."

4.

To pull with violence; as, to tear the hair.

5.

To move violently; to agitate. "Once I loved torn ocean's roar."

To tear a cat, to rant violently; to rave; especially applied to theatrical ranting. (Obs.)

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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Etymology of 'Tear up'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tear up" Quotes from Famous Books

... examination, considering the time you've lost. I let you off because I feel that the experiences you have gained may be of good value to you." Turning to the Adjutant he said, "March the prisoner out and release him. Tear up his crime sheet." ...

— The Chronicles of a Gay Gordon • Jose Maria Gordon

... up and flinging out his hands). Oh, my God! The box-office! Have I got to slaughter my artistic instincts to feed the greed of a box-office? For God's sake, Peggy, take this play and write it to suit the taste of Broadway! Or shall I tear up the ...

— The Pot Boiler • Upton Sinclair

... And I perceived that the Humans had truly turned loose the Earth-Current upon the Hounds, that I be saved. And there went a constant great thundering over the Land, because that the Earth-Force did rend and split the air, and did tear up the earth. And the roaring of the Monsters did be husht and lost in that mighty sound; and I to see no place where the Hounds did be; but only flames and broken lands where the Earth-Force did strike; and great rocks did be hurled all whithers, with a vast noise; and truly it did be a mercy that ...

— The Night Land • William Hope Hodgson

... there was war, soldiers from the United States might come over and wreck the railway. They might dynamite the bridges or tear up the rails. ...

— Ontario Teachers' Manuals: History • Ontario Ministry of Education

... good, Surajah," he said, when he returned. "There is no getting through there. There is nothing for it but the gate, unless we can find the steps up to the top of the wall, and get up unnoticed. Then we might tear up our sashes longways, knot them together, and ...

— The Tiger of Mysore - A Story of the War with Tippoo Saib • G. A. Henty

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