Idiom
tear up
Meaning
To damage.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The puppy started to tear up my favorite shoes.”
“The heavy wind began to tear up the old roof during the storm last night.”
“The construction crew had to tear up the pavement to repair the broken water pipes beneath the busy city street.”
Examples
simple
“The puppy started to tear up my favorite shoes.”
contextual
“The heavy wind began to tear up the old roof during the storm last night.”
complex
“The construction crew had to tear up the pavement to repair the broken water pipes beneath the busy city street.”
Origin
From the noun tear, denoting the saline liquid secreted by the lacrimal glands to lubricate the eye. The verbal construction derives from the physical act of weeping.
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated