rip
- 01 A2 Elementary
v.to pull something apart quickly or with force, especially paper or cloth.
v.to divide or separate parts of a flimsy material by pulling or cutting with force.
Simple“He had to rip the old wallpaper off the walls before he could start painting.”
In context“The wind was so powerful that it began to rip the canvas awning from its metal frame.”
UsageTransitive or intransitive.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to copy music or video from a CD or DVD onto a computer.
v.to extract digital content from a physical medium or stream to a local storage device.
Simple“I spent the whole afternoon trying to rip my old CDs to my laptop.”
In context“The software allows users to rip audio tracks from high-definition discs without losing any sound quality.”
UsageTransitive; often used with 'from'.
Teacher's tipThough less common now due to streaming, this remains the standard term for digitising physical media.
- 03 C1 Advanced
v.to criticize someone or something very strongly.
v.to mock or criticize someone harshly and aggressively.
Simple“The critics really ripped into the director's new movie.”
In context“The late-night host spent his entire monologue ripping on the senator's latest public gaffe.”
UsageUsually used with the prepositions 'on' or 'into'.
- 04 A2 Elementary
n.a long hole in something that has been torn.
n.a rent or opening made by tearing fabric, paper, or similar material.
Simple“There was a small rip in the sleeve of his jacket.”
In context“She noticed a significant rip in the upholstery that would require professional repair before the sofa could be sold.”
UsageCountable.
- 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a strong, dangerous current of water that pulls away from the shore.
n.a strong surface current flowing outwards from a shore, often dangerous to swimmers.
Simple“The lifeguard warned the swimmers to stay away from the rip near the rocks.”
In context“The rip was so powerful that even experienced surfers struggled to paddle back toward the beach.”
UsageOften called a 'rip current' in technical contexts.
Teacher's tipCommonly used in coastal regions of Australia, New Zealand, and the US.
Synonymsrip currentundertow
“She trudges sideways, backward, into deep snowdrifts and a howling wind that rips the box open.”
“Swells generated by Lala would build through the weekend and are likely to cause "life-threatening surf and rip current conditions." "It's a serious storm," Gov.”
Learned borrowing from Latin RIP (requiescat in pace) and an initialism of rest in peace.
Originally coined in Selker et al. (1987) as an acronym for rearrangement induced premeiotically, which was later renamed repeat-induced point mutation in Cambareri et al. (1989).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.