tear
- 01 A2 Elementary
n.a drop of salty liquid that comes from your eye when you cry or feel pain.
n.a drop of clear, saline liquid secreted by the lacrimal glands in response to emotion or irritation.
Simple“A single tear ran down her cheek as she said goodbye to her friend.”
In context“The actor's ability to produce a tear on command during the final scene left the audience in stunned silence.”
Synonyms - 02 B1 Intermediate
n.a hole or split in something like paper, cloth, or skin.
n.a hole or opening produced by pulling a material apart with force.
Simple“He noticed a small tear in his jacket after walking through the bushes.”
In context“The restorer carefully examined the tear in the canvas, determining that the structural integrity of the painting remained intact.”
- 03 B1 Intermediate
v.to pull something apart into pieces using force.
v.to pull a material apart by force; transitive when an object is being destroyed and intransitive when the material fails.
Simple“Be careful not to tear the wrapping paper while you open the gift.”
In context“The high winds threatened to tear the sails, forcing the crew to lower them before the storm reached its peak.”
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to move very quickly or with a lot of energy.
v.to move or act with great speed or violence. Often used with a directional preposition.
Simple“The kids were tearing around the garden all afternoon.”
In context“The car went tearing down the narrow street, narrowly missing the parked vehicles on the corner.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
n.a period of time where someone does something with a lot of energy or success.
n.a period of intense activity or a streak of success, often used in sports or business contexts.
Simple“The team has been on a tear lately, winning their last five games.”
In context“After the new CEO took over, the company went on a tear, acquiring three smaller competitors in less than six months.”
- 06 C2 Proficiency
n.a visual error on a screen where the top and bottom of a picture do not match.
n.a visual artifact in video display where information from two or more frames is shown in a single screen draw.
Simple“I enabled vertical sync to stop the screen tear during the game.”
In context“The reviewer noted significant horizontal tear during high-motion sequences, suggesting the graphics driver required further optimisation.”
Synonymsscreen tearing
Usage tear gas
“Félix Mourinho died in June 2017 and, when that comes up in the documentary, there are tears.”
“In her eyes, there is sadness, but no tears.”
From Middle English teren, from Old English teran (“to tear, lacerate”), from Proto-Germanic teraną (“to tear, tear apart, rip”), from Proto-Indo-European der- (“to tear, tear apart”). Cognate with Scots tere, teir, tair (“to rend, lacerate, wound, rip, tear out”), Dutch teren (“to eliminate, efface, live, survive by consumption”), German zehren (“to consume, misuse”), German zerren (“to tug, rip, tear”), Danish tære (“to consume”), Swedish tära (“to fret, consume, deplete, use up”), Icelandic tæra (“to clear, corrode”). Outside Germanic, cognate to Ancient Greek δέρω (dérō, “to skin”), Albanian ther (“to slay, skin, pierce”). Doublet of tire.
From Middle English teer (“tear”), from Old English tēar, from Proto-West Germanic tahr, from Proto-Germanic tahrą (“tear”), from Proto-Indo-European *dáḱru- (“tears”). Cognates include Old Norse tár (Danish tåre and Norwegian tåre), Old High German zahar (German Zähre), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐍂 (tagr), Irish deoir and Latin lacrima.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.