▪ I. rip, n.1 dial.
Also 4 rippe, 4, 6–7 ripp.
[a. ON. and Icel. hrip (Norw. rip). The currency of the word in south-eastern counties is remarkable.]
1. A wicker basket or pannier, esp. one used for carrying fish.
| c 1300 Havelok 893 He..Astirte til him with his rippe, And bigan þe fish to kippe. 1377–8 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 35 In iiijor paribus de payngniers novis pro piscator. viijto sportis novis et xij ripps. 1600 in W. F. Shaw Mem. Eastry (1870) 226 One cheese presse,..two payer of Ripps, five payells. 1613 J. Dennys Secrets Angling i. xxvii, Yet must you haue a little Rip beside, Of Willow twigs. 1619 in Archæol. Cant. XXV. 6 Going barelegged to catch fish with ripps at his back. 1808 Jamieson, Rip, a basket made of willows, or of willows and straw, for holding eggs, spoons, &c. Ang. 1887 Parish & Shaw Kentish Gloss., Rip, a pannier or basket, used in pairs and slung on each side of a horse for carrying loads, such as fish, salt, sand, &c. |
| Comb. 1380 in Archæol. Cant. (1880) XIII. 206 [The shares of herrings..after deducting the] riphere, barelhere, axhere [etc.]. 1668 Canterbury Marriage Licences (MS.), Daniel Longly de Westwell, rippmaker. 1880 E. B. Walker in Archæol. Cant. XIII. 206 The cess upon the Ripiers (or as they would now be termed ‘'long-shore-men’), who to this day call a basket which they carry slung over their backs a ‘Rip’ basket. |
b. (See quot.)
| 1847 Halliw., Rip, an oval flat piece of wicker-work on which the lines are coiled. Hartlepool. |
2. A hen or pheasant coop. Also hen-rip.
| 1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 479/1 The hen..is frequently confined to a coop, called in Surrey a rip, for some weeks. c 1858 E. Watts Poultry Yard 130 The hen should be put under a rip or coop, solid all round except two bars in front. 1884 West Sussex Gaz. 25 Sept., Four hen rips, two fatting coops. |
▪ II. rip, n.2 Sc.
Also 8 ripp.
[Perh. f. rip v.2 The vowel is against connexion with reap n.1]
A handful of unthreshed grain or of hay; also spec. the last handful of grain remaining to be cut in a harvest-field.
| a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1850) II. 239 Ilk ane had in his cap or bonnet a rip of oats, whilk was his sign. 1783 Burns Dying Words Poor Mailie 34 An' tent them duely..Wi' taets o' hay an' ripps o' corn. 1786 ― To Auld Mare i, Hae, there's a ripp to thy auld baggie. 1809 W. Muir in Modern Sc. Poets (1881) II. 50 Wi' sweet rips o' hay I will treat a' my wethers. 18.. in Whistle-Binkie Ser. ii. (1853) 80 Aye lay in your corn first,..do like the Kilbarchan calves, drink wi' a rip i' your mouth. 1882 J. Walker Jaunt Auld Reekie 12 She taks her heuk and clears an open space Around the rip. |
▪ III. rip, n.3 dial.
Also 7 ripp.
[Of obscure origin. In some western counties the form is ripe.]
A strickle for a scythe. Also rip-stick.
| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 332/2 The Ripp is that as the Mower whetteth his Sythe withal, of some called the Strickles. 1866–89 in Lincolnshire glossaries. 1892 P. H. Emerson Son of Fens 248, I jist want to do a little more to my point, and my old rip will do. |
▪ IV. rip, n.4
Also 8 ripp.
[f. rip v.2 Cf. Flem. rip in sense 1.]
1. A rent made by ripping; a laceration, tear.
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 13 ¶3 It is said, indeed, that he once gave him a Ripp in his flesh-colour Doublet. 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. xviii. 384 The sheared edges to be free from rip, the surface free from flaws and blisters. 1885 Field 3 Oct. 499/2 The curlew being quite dead, with a great rip down its back. |
2. ellipt. A rip-saw. In comb. half-rip.
| 1846–75 [see rip-saw]. |
3. dial. or colloq. A rapid rush; a quick run; esp. (U.S.) in Music: see later quots. Also transf., a burst (of laughter).
| 1855 Knickerbocker XLV. 129 List to the rip and the roar of the song. 1866– in Eng. Dial. Dict. 1867 ‘T. Lackland’ Homespun ii. 271 Sometimes he could not help giving a rip of laughter that drew the eyes of the whole school round to him in an instant. 1933 Metronome Mar. 34 The rip is produced by short and quick glissando up to the tone, attacked sforzando and cut off quickly. 1961 A. Berkman Singers' Gloss. Show Business 75 Rip, an effect in which the entire band plays a fast glissando up to a heavily accented note to emphasize or punctuate a violent action or thought. |
4. U.S. Police slang. (see quots.)
| 1939 Fortune July 101/3 An inspector's lieutenant..found the patrolman lounging with his gloves off, smoking a cigarette. Probable penalty: one day's ‘rip’ (fine of a day's pay). 1958 N.Y. Times Mag. 16 Mar. 88/3 Rip—A fine imposed for infraction of police regulations: e.g., ‘I got a five-day rip’ (fined five days' pay). |
5. attrib. rip cord, (a) Aeronaut. = ripping cord; (b) Aeronaut., a cord which holds a parachute pack closed and which, when pulled, opens the pack and allows the parachute to unfold and inflate; (c) fig.; rip line, panel, valve Aeronaut. = ripping line, panel, valve s.v. ripping vbl. n. 2 b.
| 1909 V. Lougheed Vehicles of Air 108 Practically a valve is the ‘rip cord’, by means of which a seam running along the side of a balloon can be laid open. 1911 Sci. Amer. 25 Mar. 300/1 In case of accident the aviator, by pulling a rip cord, can open the parachute. 1925 [see pilot chute s.v. pilot n. 8]. 1946 W. F. Burbidge From Balloon to Bomber 40 In 1908, an American parachutist, invented a ‘free parachute’... The parachute was packed into a container worn on the airman's chest and released by a whale-bone spring operated by a rip-cord. 1969 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 7 Feb. 36/1 ‘Then you'd better put on a parachute if you're afraid,’ Beachel said. ‘How does the chute work?’ Till asked. ‘Where is the ripcord?’ 1974 [see ripping line s.v. ripping vbl. n. 2 b]. 1975 ‘D. Jordan’ Black Account i. xix. 100 He was big..and wide but ripcord lean. 1981 W. Winward Ball Bearing Run ix. 111 It would be necessary to fall clear of the bomber stream before pulling the rip-cord. |
| 1963 A. Smith Throw out Two Hands viii. 95 Above it [sc. the basket of a balloon]..were the valve line (for gentle release of gas) and the rip line (for a total release of gas). |
| 1933 Sun (Baltimore) 22 Nov. 2/7 Rather than take a chance on crossing the bay with his diminishing gas, he pulled the rip panel and down they came. 1963 A. Smith Throw out Two Hands v. 63 You lose the rope. Then you pull it again, and this time you can feel it jerking open the rip panel. 1978 A. Welch Bk. of Airsports v. 81/1 For this purpose a rip panel is built into the balloon near the top and is kept closed with either a parachute rip or Velcro. |
| 1907 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 19 Apr. 602/2 By means of the rip valve they were able to come down pleasantly and easily. |
▪ V. rip, n.5
[? Related to rip v.2]
1. a. A disturbed state of the sea, resembling breakers; an overfall. (See also tide-rip.)
| 1775 Romans Florida App. 88 You will see a rip appear like breakers; but in the rip is 18 or 20 fathom, and the moment a ship gets into this rip, she jumps out of soundings. 1857 R. Tomes Amer. in Japan xvi. 370 We passed thro' a very heavy over-fall or rip; so much so that the executive officer and others at first supposed that there were breakers. 1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 71 We..passed through a nasty tidal rip, caused by the outflow of the large basin meeting the ocean wind, waves, and currents. |
b. ellipt. = rip current.
| 1941 Jrnl. Geol. XLIX. 338 The term ‘rip’ might also be used as an abbreviation, which removes the unfortunate tidal connotation of the popular term ‘rip tide’. 1968 R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 950/2 The width of the central ‘trunk’ of the rip can be quite narrow, perhaps only a few tens of feet, but the effect of the current can sometimes be detected up to a mile or more from the shore. 1968 W. Warwick Surfriding in N.Z. 20/2 Remember to dive beneath broken waves and do not swim against rips, they will only take you a short distance out to sea before fading out. 1977 Herald (Melbourne) 17 Jan. 6/9 He was helping to rescue four people caught in a rip when the accident happened. |
2. A stretch of broken water in a river. (Cf. riffle n. 4 and ripple n.3 1.) Chiefly U.S.
| a 1828 in B. James Jrnl. (1896) ii. 195 We passed several very dangerous places, which they there [on the Kennebec R.] termed ‘rips’, which was [sic] a confused number of rocks and large stones in the direct way we were obliged to pass, and which generally had a fall of some few feet. 1839 E. Holmes Explor. Aroostook River 7 The existing obstacles which present themselves to the present navigation of this river, are, the ‘rips’, which are occasioned principally by loose boulders of rock. 1857 Thoreau Maine W. ii. (1867) 112 After passing through some long rips, and by a large island. 1861 ― Lett. (1865) 203 Though the current was swift, I did not see a ‘rip’ on it and only three or four rocks. 1888 J. Inglis Tent Life in Tigerland 262 They had been in a terrible fright lest we should be caught and overturned in the ugly ‘rip’ or rapid. 1941 B. A. Williams Strange Woman iii. i. 128 After that we'd skin 'em [sc. scurry ducks] out and tie a string to 'em and let 'em hang in rips of the quickest water we could find. 1977 New Yorker 9 May 106/3 A couple of tributaries came into the river,..and they deepened the pools and improved the rips. |
3. Special Comb.: rip current, an intermittent, strong, narrow current on or near the surface of the sea, flowing directly out from the shore and acting to remove water which has been brought to the shore by waves and wind; rip tide, (a) = rip current; (b) = sense 1; (c) fig.
| 1936 F. P. Shepard in Science 21 Aug. 181/2 The name ‘rip tide’ is certainly not appropriate, since the current described has nothing to do with the tide... The name ‘rip current’ is suggested, since it is close to the other name and describes the way in which the current rips through the oncoming breakers. 1941 Jrnl. Geol. XLIX. 339 The chief seaward return of water moved in by the waves seems to be in the form of rip currents. 1957 G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. v. 358 The usual pattern..is the development of longshore currents which return to the free water at particular points..as rip currents. 1973 Daily Tel. 15 Aug. 6/3 He believed a rip current may have been responsible for carrying the 20 bathers out to sea. |
| 1862 Hopkins Hawaii 15 The bay was full of rip-tides, and the water boiled as in a kettle. 1931 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 26 Aug. 1/2 Surf bathing as a means of avoiding the heat was made unattractive to many because of the possibility of the recurrence of dangerous ‘rip tides’. 1936 [see rip current]. a 1963 S. Plath Ariel (1965) 45 Your stooges..Riding the rip tide to the nearest point of departure. 1970 I. Petite Meander to Alaska i. v. 47 Riptides, eddies,..complicate a cruiser's traffic patterns. 1973 Sunday Bull. (Philadelphia) 14 Oct. (Parade Suppl.) 14/4 Probably the toughest rescue I had was a Mexican family unfamiliar with the riptides. They wandered out about 400 yards into the surf, then started yelling. 1976 New Yorker 22 Mar. 106/2 Their echoings of Futurism and Expressionism—for example, the riptides of black diagonals in Dove's ‘Field of Grain Seen from Train’. 1977 Time 28 Mar. 45/3 In Colombia, surging coffee revenues have been accompanied by a riptide of 26% inflation. 1978 J. A. Knauss Introd. Physical. Oceanogr. x. 219 Rip tides can be dangerous to the unwary swimmer. |
▪ VI. rip, n.6
[Perh. a later form of rep2. If this is an abbreviation of reprobate, the appearance of sense 1 earlier than sense 2 is prob. accidental.]
1. An inferior, worthless, or worn-out horse.
| 1778 W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 23 July an. 1775, I have given him the rips, instead of the best team, and he is all submission. 1798 in Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1799) II. 296 A raw-boned Scotch rip, whose pedigree we cannot answer for, occupies another capital stall. 1813 Sporting Mag. XLI. 101 Meeting Mr. Lee in his gig, driving this rip of a horse (as he termed it). 1825 Visc. Stratford in Lane-Poole Life (1888) I. 382 If the carriage be smart the horses are rips. 1860 G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. ix. (1861) 69 Your sort are rather of the weedy order,..those thorough⁓bred rips never have courage to face large fences. 1883 Trans. Amer. Philol. Soc. 52 Rip, ‘a lean horse,’ not uncommon in South, though a low word. |
2. a. A worthless, dissolute fellow; a rake.
In colloq. or dial. use sometimes in milder sense as a term of reproof.
| 1797 D. Simpson Plea Relig. (1808) 148 This rip of a son shall be trained to the church. 1824 Blackw. Mag. XV. 220 Every variety of the rip is familiar to his fancy, and to his pencil. 1843 Le Fevre Life Trav. Phys. I. i. vii. 155 Rips of parsons, incarcerated six days in the week. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xxii, I doubt whether he wouldn't think me too much of a rip to be intimate with. 1892 W. E. Norris His Grace II. i, The late Lord Charles Gascoigne had been an old rip,..he might have done something disgraceful. 1918 Galsworthy Five Tales 77 My grandfather lived to be a hundred; my father ninety-six—both of them rips. 1935 S. Desmond Afr. Log li. 264 A humble repentant sinner—once perhaps ‘a bit of a rip’—but very appealing. 1951 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 656/2 Would you believe it, the old rip had a flutter in Norland Deeps himself? |
b. Applied to a woman. Somewhat rare.
| 1791 Burns Let. to P. Hill 17 Jan., The chariot wheels of the coroneted rip, hurrying on to the guilty assignation. 1825 Jennings Obs. Dial. W. Eng. 64 Rip, a vulgar, old, unchaste woman. 1893 G. B. Shaw Let. 4 Sept. (1965) I. 404 The mother a most deplorable old rip. 1900 G. Swift Somerley 88, ‘I don't believe I thought there was such a thing as a lady rake.’.. ‘Yes, bit of a rip, wasn't she?’ 1910 P. W. Joyce English as we speak it in Ireland xiii. 313 Rip, a coarse ill-conditioned woman with a bad tongue. |
3. A person or thing of little or no value.
| 1815 Zeluca III. 145 Ah you don't recollect Mrs. Cibber—Mrs. Siddons was a rip to her—about what Kean is to Garrick, ma'am! 1838 Holloway Prov. Dict., Rip, any person or thing completely worn out and worthless. 1867 Brierley Marlocks, etc. 98 An owd rip of a hommer [= hammer] like this. |
▪ VII. rip
obs. or dial. form of reap n.2 and v.2
▪ VIII. rip
obs. form of ripe n.1, a., and v.1
▪ IX. † rip, v.1 Obs. rare.
[A var. of ripe v.2, with shortening of vowel which prob. originated in the past tense *rĭpte for OE. r{yacu}pte.]
trans. To rob.
| c 1200 Ormin 10204 Þatt toþþ..Þatt holeþþ o þe laȝhefollc, & rippeþþ hemm & ræfeþþ. Ibid. 10238 Þatt teȝȝ ne sholldenn nohht te follc Þurrh grediȝnesse rippenn. |
▪ X. rip, v.2
(rɪp)
Also 6–7 rippe, 6 ryp(pe.
[Of somewhat obscure origin and history; it is not quite certain that all the senses really belong to the same word. Corresponding forms in the cognate languages are Fris. rippe to rip, tear, Flem. rippen to rip, strip off roughly; it is not clear whether these are distinct from MDu. and LG. rippen, var. of reppen to move, pull (up), etc., which appear to be the source of NFris. and older Da. rippe, MSw., Norw., and Fær. rippa, in the same senses. MLG. reppen (up) is also used of reviving or raking up a matter, and this sense is represented by Da. rippe (op), oprippe (recorded from 1570), Icel. rippa upp (in 17th c. copies of an old text), MSw. reppa (up); whether LG. or Da. had any influence on English in this point is not apparent.]
I. 1. a. trans. To cut, pull, or tear (anything) away from something else in a vigorous manner. Const. with advs. off, out, † forth, or preps. from, out of.
| c 1477 Caxton Jason 115 b, Wherfore for to know what it was, he distached and ripte it of. 1555 J. Proctor Hist. Wyat's Rebellion 31 b, For haste to rippe their bootes from theyr legges. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. viii. 16 Macduffe was from his Mothers womb Vntimely ript. 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God x. xi. 377 From earths gutts will I rip forth to vew, The feasts. 1650 Earl of Monmouth tr. Senault's Man bec. Guilty 285 If gold were already ript out of the bowels of the earth. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exer. No. 3. 51 You may tack down two small thin boards on either side the Using File, to keep it steddy, and rip them off again when you have done. 1727 Gay Begg. Op. i. iv, Rip out the coronets and marks of these dozen of cambric handkerchiefs. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. ii. 316 The Carpenters..ripped of the old sheathing that was left. a 1777 Fawkes Rape of Helen (R.), Jove's teeming head the monstrous birth contains, And the barb'd iron ripp'd thee from his brains. 1861 Once a Week 10 Aug. 180/1 The joy of ripping out the middle stump of a good batter surpasses even that of wiping a man's eye at an overhead cock-pheasant. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. iii. vii, He ripped the lining out, and left the cloak in the state it is. 1884 Manch. Exam. 28 Nov. 5/1 He also declared that he incited no one to rip off Gladstone badges at the meeting. 1977 P. Hill Fanatics 33 They've ripped out the phone. |
b. slang. To steal.
| 1904 ‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing 252/1 Rip, to steal with impunity. 1970 Time 22 June 52/3 For extra, unanticipated personal needs, he ‘rips off’—or steals... Some of those who take jobs in department stores or markets steal what they can... Some who work in restaurants or drugstores let their friends in to eat or rip what they need. 1976 Telegraph (Brisbane) 20 Apr. 1/3 They believe some have ripped millions of dollars from Medibank since it began. 1977 Guardian 23 June 3/4 (Advt.), While the fluff saps the mark, the dip rips the wad. |
c. Baseball. To score (a hit) in a vigorous manner.
| 1970 Washington Post 30 Sept. d2/5 Renko ripped his run-scoring hit in the second. 1974 Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 19 Apr. 5b/4 Designated-hitter Duke Sims..ripped a run-scoring double over first base. |
d. Of a competitor or team: to defeat overwhelmingly. U.S.
| 1974 State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 3 Mar. 1-d/6 South Carolina..ripped the Cougars, 104–86, behind a sparkling 37-point performance by Alex English. 1976 Springfield (Mass.) Daily News 22 Apr. 40/4 Three runaways featured action in the Bi-County League. St. Mary's romped over Westfield Voke, 16–3; Gateway ripped Belchertown, 12–1; Smith School blitzed Holyoke Trade, 12–0. 1978 Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. 5e/11 (heading) Borg rips Smith, gains WCT finals. |
2. a. To cut or tear apart in a rough or slashing fashion. Also with compl. as asunder, open, through.
| 1530 Palsgr. 691/2, I ryppe a seame that is sowed, je decous... It is better to ryppe ones clothes and sowe them agayne than to be ydell. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 6 They rippe in sunder the noddle of his head. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 38 With the one hande robbe so many cofers, and with the other to rippe so many corses. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 39 The fringe of your sattin peticote is ript. a 1627 Sir J. Beaumont Bosworth F. 19 And hath the ground again been ript by thee? 1718 Pope Iliad xiii. 642 The forceful spear..ripp'd his belly with a ghastly wound. 1790 Cowper My Mother's Picture 103 Sails ript, seams op'ning wide, and compass lost. c 1850 Arabian Nts. (Routledge) 83 As soon as you shall feel yourself upon the ground, rip open the skin with the knife. 1865 J. T. F. Turner Slate Quarries 10 The other contractors..have to blast and rip the rock. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 15 July 5/3 The sides of the carriages were ripped and torn. 1973 ‘J. Patrick’ Glasgow Gang Observed iii. 30 He had..fifty-nine stitches on the side of his face; he had been ‘ripped’ only a few weeks ago. |
| fig. 1763 Churchill Author Poems 1767 II. 11 Lives there a Man, who calmly can stand by, And see his conscience ripp'd with steady eye. 1930 [best a. 7 b]. 1976 Honolulu Star-Bull. 21 Dec. h6/1 Meanwhile, the Davis Cup nations are ripped by political squabbling. |
b. To split or cleave (timber); to saw in the direction of the grain. (See also quot. 1688.)
| 1532 Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb. (MS.), For fellyng & ryppyng of ij thou[sand] & di. of tymber. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 105/2 Terms used by the Fletchers, or Arrow-Makers... Ripping it, is to give it the first round. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 708 These two [saws] are used..for ripping or cutting fir-timber..with the grain. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2033/2 When a Japanese wants to rip a plank, he places it across anything which will elevate the end a few inches. |
c. To take the tiles off (a building or roof) and put on fresh laths; to repair or re-lay a roof in this manner.
| 1640 Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb. (MS.), For Ripping of Broth. Vauses house. 1657–8 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 97 In the extraordinary repaires of the Colledg. viz...ripping both buildings in y⊇ old Court..; ripping all the new building. 1828 Hutton's Course Math. II. 96 What will the new ripping a house cost..at 15s. per square? 1850 in Shaw Mem. Eastry (1870) 206 Ordered the north and south side of the chancel roofs to be ripped and relaid. 1876–87 in Surrey and Kent glossaries. |
d. To take out or cut away by quarrying, etc.; to divest or clear of surface-soil.
| 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 69 Ripping 240 hogsheads [of limestone]. 1852 J. Wiggins Embanking 88 That operation requiring great care in ‘ripping’ one side of the bank at a time. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-Mining 204 Rip, to cut or blast down the roof or top. 1904 Daily News 22 Oct. 12 As the men were engaged in ‘ripping top’ they came across what is believed to be the fossilised remains of a large fish. |
e. To open or release, or to deflate, by the use of a rip cord. Also absol.
| 1902 J. Alexander Conquest of Air iii. 54 There was an arrangement for ripping the cover when ready to descend. Ibid. 55 They immediately ripped the balloon and commenced their descent. 1907 G. Bacon Record of Aeronaut xiv. 263 Mr. Spencer was in favour of ripping open the valve. 1920 G. C. Bailey Compl. Airman xxxi. 242 The ripping panel is a specially sewn section of the fabric, a cord lead to which enables the balloonist to rip it at will. 1963 A. Smith Throw out Two Hands xxi. 219, I..remember fumbling for the rip-panel cord... Had I ripped? |
3. a. To slash up with a sharp instrument; to tear or open up with violence. Also fig.
| 1575 Turberv. Trag. Tales (1837) 131 [He] drewe out a shoulder knife, And ript me up the brest Of him that murdred lay. 1595 Shakes. John v. ii. 152 You bloudy Nero's, ripping vp the wombe Of your deere Mother-England. a 1626 Middleton Mayor of Queenb. iii. iii, I will rip up the linings. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. i. 46 Julian..caused the bellies of Women and Virgins to be ript up. 1688 Molloy De Jure Marit. ii. i. §6. 204 If a Ship be ript up in parts, and taken asunder in parts. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 214 He..ripp'd up his Wastcoat to feel if he was not wounded. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy vii, You send for your dog, who is ripped up by the bull. 1897 Rhoscomyl White Rose Arno 301 Iolyn..had ripped up one [man] in the cave mouth as he rose. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 14 Aug. 12/1 What rips you up is the craziness... I felt like, well, since I loved them both, they should love each other. They don't. |
| refl. 1870 ‘W. M. Cooper’ Hist. of the Rod xxiv. 233 The doomed gentleman, bidding his friends farewell, quietly rips himself up. |
b. To open up (wounds or sores) again in a harsh manner. In fig. use, passing into 4 b.
| 1565 T. Stapleton Fortr. Faith 150 Let vs..rippe vp the deadly woundes of our greuous iniquites. 1641 F. Greville On Episcopacy 96, I profess I take no pleasure in ripping up their foule loathsome sores. 1679 J. Goodman Penit. Pard. iii. vi. (1713) 393 He will not rake in men's wounds, nor rip up old sores. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. iv. ix, It's little my part to rip up old sores. |
c. To form by tearing up something.
| 1885 Manch. Exam. 21 July 5/3 The tornado wrought terrible damage, ripping up pathways through the forests. |
d. Cricket. Of a ball: to hit (a stump or stumps) on delivery at speed, so as to knock it (or them) back or out of the ground. Also with bowler as subj.
| 1832 P. Egan Bk. Sports 348/2 She [sc. the ball]..Ripp'd up the off and centre! 1887 F. Gale Game of Cricket xiv. 244 Nothing would be better for cricket itself than for a young unknown cricketer..to rip up the wickets of some of the county cracks. |
4. fig. a. To open up, lay bare, disclose, make known; also, to search into, examine. Now rare.
| 1549 Latimer 3rd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 78 Fyrst of all as touchynge my fyrst sermon, I wyll runne it ouer cursorie, ryppyng a lytle the matter. 1565 Jewel Repl. Harding 240 As these menne thinke..to huddle vp their maters in the darke, it wil not be amisse to rippe them abroade. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. (1887) 163 If ye rip the cause why they seeke to set foorth them selues. 1598 Marston Sco. Villanie Pref. B ij, Know, I doe scorn to stoupe To rip your liues. 1602 ― Ant. & Mel. iv. Wks. 1856 I. 48 There shalt thou rippe The inwards of thy fortunes, in mine eares. |
| 1878 Browning Poets Croisic I, In vain we rip The past, no further faintest trace remains Of René. |
b. To open up, rake up, bring up again into notice or discussion (esp. something unpleasant or which is to a person's discredit).
Very common from c 1575: see also reap v.2
| 1570 Wilson tr. Demosthenes 12 If a man weare disposed to rippe up all that euer he did and to charge him with every point thereof. 1584 Fenner Def. Ministers (1587) 47 Wee are loth to rippe vpp manie things whiche..can not well be discussed. 1605 J. Carpenter Solomon's Solace xvii. 71, I shall rippe vp vnto you the seauenth cause of the Kings sorowe. 1650 S. Clarke Eccl. Hist. i. (1654) 35 Hereupon he ript up Origen's faults. 1678 Temple Let. to Elector Wks. 1720 II. 506 Ripping up their whole Conduct in the Course of this Affair. 176. Wesley Husb. & Wives vii. §2 Wks. 1811 IX. 86 The husband may..tell her how her faults were ripped up. 1777 Sheridan Trip Scarb. iv. i, Don't stand ripping up old stories, to make one ashamed before one's love. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. xiv. (1869) 288 We do not want to rip up old grievances. 1880 M. E. Braddon Just as I am xxvii, Why do you come here to rip up the secrets of the past? 1884 Law Times Rep. LII. 88/1 Their interest was bound by that decision, and they cannot rip up what was then done. |
c. dial. (See quot.)
| 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss. s.v., Ripping one up, telling him all his faults. |
5. Austral. slang. To annoy intensely; usu. in phr. wouldn't it rip you, used as an expression of exasperation.
| 1941 Argus (Melbourne) Week-End Mag. 15 Nov. 1/3 Another universal favourite is still the famous ‘Wouldn't it ―!’ Never given the final words (the completed sentence has several variations on ‘Wouldn't it rock you!’ or ‘Wouldn't it rip you!’) the explanation depends upon inflexion as to whether it conveys disgust, amazement, or pleasure. 1944 L. Glassop We were Rats xiii. 74 ‘I can't do it,’ he said again. ‘There are no partitions between the places... It's disgusting..’. Everyone gaped at him. ‘What's wrong with this galah?’ asked somebody and another said, ‘Well wouldn't it rip you? What do you expect him to throw?’ Ibid. xxviii. 162, I had the idea that if you joined the A.I.F. you had to fight in the front line. I know now how many men it takes to keep one in those trenches. Do you know our divisions have even got a mobile laundry, decontamination unit and mobile bath unit? Wouldn't it rip you? |
6. to rip off. slang (orig. U.S.). Cf. also rip-off n. a. To steal; to embezzle.
| 1967 Trans-Action Apr. 7 The hustler ‘burns’ people for money, but he also ‘rips off’ goods for money; he thieves, and petty thieving is always a familiar hustle. 1971 It 4–18 Nov. 3/5 An analysis of 800 documents ripped off from the Pennsylvania FBI office. 1972 National Observer (U.S.) 27 May 12/2 Bank robbery? It's only Establishment money that's being ripped off. 1974 Black Panther 16 Mar. 6/2 Spiro got caught ripping off tax money. 1977 New Yorker 9 May 34/2 First he owned an Atala, but it got ripped off, so he bought a Peugeot. 1981 A. Cross Death in Faculty viii. 90 Soldiers are always ripping things off, from their own outfit, from the enemy, everything. |
b. To exploit financially; to cheat or defraud; to rob; to deceive.
| 1971 Frendz 21 May 16/4 The young people are well aware that they are being ripped off by these parasites, and, quite naturally, think that the visiting musicians are on the side of the promoters. 1973 Black World Jan. 33/1 Individuals within the group felt that there were too many instances of their singly being ‘ripped off’ and exploited as Black artists. 1973 N.Y. Law Jrnl. 2 Aug. 13/5 He, Harris, and Sydnor had ‘ripped’ off patrons and the owner of the bar. 1974 S. Ellin Stronghold 55 Experimental group therapy sessions which we all attended..partly because ripping off the amiable idiot who conducted them was better than another game of checkers. 1976 Kingston (Ontario) Whig-Standard 19 Jan. 19/3 Mrs. Baird and Mrs. LaMarche were in complete agreement as to who were the worst offenders at ripping the consumer off: Television and auto repairs. 1976 Observer 22 Feb. 6/3 Many women think all garages consider they can ‘rip off’ women drivers. 1977 Spare Rib July 35/2 A police guard formed in front of Mothercare in Oxford St—afraid we'd attack it for the way it rips off motherhood. 1978 Detroit Free Post 5 Mar. a23/1 Sid Luft's 14-year-old lawsuit charging that his late wife Judy Garland was ripped off..by Hollywood executive David Begelman. 1981 Times 23 Apr. 4/8 Martin was not ripping me off. |
c. To have sexual intercourse with; esp., to rape.
| 1971 Black Scholar Sept. 32/1 If she had been any other broad he would have ripped her off..that night. 1973 Black World Sept. 53, I done shot dope, been to jail, swilled wine, ripped off sisters, passed bad checks. 1974 Guidelines to Volunteer Services (N.Y. State Dept. Correctional Services) 42 Rip off, rape, pull a job. |
d. To burgle, to steal from (a store, etc.).
| 1972 ‘E. McBain’ Sadie when she Died iii. 30 Q. Why did you go into the apartment? A. To rip it off. Q. To burglarize it? A. Yes. 1973 Black World Jan. 54/2 They were ripping off a furniture store in a few hours. 1977 Rolling Stone 24 Mar., Not when young blacks have ripped off bookstores across the country to get illegally what the lack of a job prevents them from getting legally. |
e. To copy; to plagiarize.
| 1975 Radio Times 12–18 July 9/4 Just about everyone (including the Immaculate Jean-Luc Godard) ripped off Dick Lester's cool style. 1977 Undercurrents June–July 11/4 I've never yet refused a request to reproduce anything of mine but I've lost count of the times I've been ripped off. 1978 Sci. Amer. June 26/1 Two books, one an instruction manual for a geometrical instrument.., the other a witty polemic against a Padovan student who had sought to rip off that very instruction book! |
II. 7. intr. a. To move with slashing force.
| 1798 Bloomfield Farmer's Boy, Summer 141 Hark! where the sweeping Scythe now rips along. |
b. To split, tear, part asunder.
| 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxv, The great mainsail gaped open, and the sail ripped from head to foot. 1860 Tomlinson Arts & Manuf. 2nd Ser. Needles 4 When the surface rips or tears, the attendant can feel it. 1890 Melbourne Argus 29 May 9/8 Rock very hard, but rips remarkably well. |
8. a. dial. To use strong language; to swear.
| 1772 Nugent Hist. Fr. Gerund II. 497 Here the poor old man..begins ripping and swearing in the most dreadful manner. 1776 J. Adams Wks. (1856) IX. 441 Your secretary will rip about this measure, and well he may. 1838 Holloway Prov. Dict., To rip, to swear profanely and in anger. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Rip, to bluster and swear impetuously. |
b. To break out angrily.
| 1856 Mrs. Stowe Dred I. xx. 279, I suppose they [the clergy] wouldn't any of them give me a chance for heaven, because I rip out with an oath every now and then. 1886 Stevenson Prince Otto ii. vii, ‘You may leave the table,’ he added, his temper ripping out. |
c. trans. with out. To utter with violence.
| 1828–32 Webster s.v., To rip out, as an oath. 1848 Jones Sketches Trav. 78 (Farmer), He ripped out an oath that made the hair stand on my head. 1889 ‘Q.’ Splendid Spur xvii, He ripped out a horrid blasphemous curse. |
9. a. To rush along with violence or great speed. Hence, to go ahead (in conduct); to pursue a reckless course. Chiefly in phrases let her rip; to let (someone or something) rip: to allow (that person or thing) to go, to continue unchecked, etc.; to let rip: to let fly, to let oneself go. orig. U.S.
| 1853 Daily Morning Herald (St. Louis) 19 Jan. (Th.), We've got 'em on the hip, Letter Rip! Letter Rip! 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 367 A common slang expression is ‘Let her rip!’ i.e. let her drive, let her go. 1863 Harper's Mag. Oct. 716/1 We cannot raise a tip To pay our board and laundry bill, And have to ‘let 'em rip’. 1869 H. Phillips Jrnl. 14 Dec. (typescript) 203 All hands tailing sheep let them rip at night. 1869 Mrs. Stowe Old Town Folks l, If she don't do nothin' more 'n take a walk 'longside on him.., why, I say, let 'er rip. 1877 Temple Bar May 109 ‘Let him rip’ is a common verdict; ‘we can turn him out when his time is up’. 1881 A. Bathgate Waitaruna ix. 139 Most of the [diggers], when they found I would not buy, would throw their picks down and say if I would not buy them I could take them or let them rip as I pleased. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms II. xiii. 211 He rips over to Daly's mob, borrows a horse, saddle, and bridle, and leads him straight down to our camp. 1894 Outing XXIV. 93 You have simply to sit still and ‘let her rip’, as Mick puts it. 1894 F. A. Barkly Among Boers & Basutos (ed. 2) xiv. 186, I galloped round the Kopje with my police and half-a-dozen volunteers..and we ‘letrip’ to use the Africander expression. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 660 For the next sixteen years..he ‘rips’; he rips carefully,..if he is a pagan; but if he is in that partially converted state..then he rips unrestrained. 1909 C. Owen Philip Loveluck xii. 175, I can rub along somehow..by letting the pressing rip. 1915 Wodehouse Psmith Journalist xxv. 203 And now..let her rip. What can I do for you? 1916 ‘Boyd Cable’ Action Front 255 A shell cracked overhead, and the shrapnel ripped down along the trench behind them. 1926 Galsworthy Silver Spoon iii. iv. 246 Alec would know where he was when it was over, and so would she!.. Let it rip! 1930 A. Bennett Imperial Palace ix. 45 He let them rip..because he enjoyed the grand spectacle of their passion. 1947 H. Read Grass Roots of Art iii. 71 We cannot..oppose the machine. We must let it rip, and with confidence. 1965 Listener 22 July 140/1 Should one try to make the action clear and comprehensible..or let rip with the poetry? 1966 Ibid. 17 Nov. 718/3 What would you do about all these many wage increases... Would you let them all rip? 1971 C. Bonington Annapurna South Face viii. 95 Almost as soon as I had let rip, however, I realized the injustice of my complaint. 1977 McKnight & Tobler Bob Marley x. 134 The other view, which was expressed by the minority, was ‘let her rip!’. 1977 Sounds 9 July 8/1 A frantic ‘live’ sounding version of The Stones' ‘The Last Time’ which rips along grandly, seven minutes and forty⁓four seconds of unadulterated pure fire. 1978 Dumfries Courier 20 Oct. 28/1 The present difficult decisions..will be thrust into insignificance if inflation lets rip again. |
b. to rip and tear: to rage, to rave; to go raging about.
| 1873 ‘Mark Twain’ & Warner Gilded Age xxvii. 249 A man wants rest, a man wants peace—a man don't want to rip and tear around all the time. 1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xxi. 207 It was perfectly lovely the way he would rip and tear. 1886 Baumann Londinismen 157/1 Ripping and tearing about. 1917 Dialect Notes IV. 342 Rip and tear, to rave. |
c. In quasi-adverbial use.
| 1884 [see sockdolager 3]. |
10. To strike swiftly and strongly.
| 1898 Daily News 24 Nov. 7/3 Sharkey ripped left and right for the body with some effect. |
III. 11. Comb. as rip-and-read, used attrib. to designate material supplied by teletype which is read on radio or television; also of an organization supplying such material; rip-and-tear U.S., used attrib. to designate crude and violent methods in crime; also transf.; cf. sense 9 b above; rip-off, used attrib. to designate an opening device that has to be torn off; rip-stop, used attrib. and absol. of nylon clothing or equipment woven so that a tear will not spread; rip track N. Amer., a section of railway line used as a site for repairs to carriages.
| 1973 New Journalist (Austral.) July–Aug. 6 The ‘rip-and-read’ news service of Sydney's labour [radio] station, 2KY. 1974 Hawkey & Bingham Wild Card ii. 26 The newscaster was reading..rip-and-read copy—a story that had just come up on an agency teletype machine that the news editor rated too big to hold while it was rewritten. |
| 1937 E. H. Sutherland Professional Thief 241 Rip-and-tear, adj., without caution; same as ‘raw-jaw’, or ‘murder grift’. 1955 D. W. Maurer in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 93 They do not constitute the upper echelons of the profession. They are also known as clout and lam mobs, hijackers, or rip and tear mobs. 1965 G. Jackson Let. 12 Mar. in Soledad Brother (1971) 66 Understand though that you do not live in the real rip-and-tear world. |
| 1973 Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 31 Aug. 1436/6 The knife edged ripoff tag on the top of some cans. |
| 1971 C. Bonington Annapurna South Face App. B. 249, 2-man [tent], in ripstop nylon. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 14 Feb. 9/3 (Advt.), Prime Duck Down socks... Covered with blue ripstop nylon. 1978 Sci. Amer. Feb. 158/3 Other covering materials include sailcloth..and nylon rip-stop. |
| 1960 Glossaria Interpretum: Chemins de Fer 1882 Voie de réparations,..Repair track, rip track Am. 1973 Amer. Speech 1969 XLIV. 246 Various parts of the yard have names..such as riptrack (a long section of track—possibly several tracks if the yard is large—which is used for car repair). |
Add: [I.] [1.] e. To attack verbally; to criticize severely. N. Amer. colloq.
| 1984 Miami Herald 6 Apr. 7f/3 He's the guy who ripped ABC for its big-name, bad-fight extravaganzas. 1985 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 10 Oct. c2/6 Quisenberry might have been inclined to complain about his teammates' goofs, but he said: ‘I won't rip my teammates.’ 1986 Daily News (N.Y.) 23 May 7/2 Tenants rip sentences in ‘reign of terror’..as a Manhattan judge imposed light jail terms on two landlords. |
[II.] [9.] d. intr. With into: to unleash a verbal attack at; to criticize sharply, castigate. colloq.
| 1940 Cobbers (Brisbane) 20 Dec. 1 Many..watched Sgt. Gordon Owens..drilling the two culprits and ripping into them. 1958 N.Z. Listener 16 May 21/3 He came down and ripped into them: ‘Who do you think you're going to play—a kindergarten?’ 1970 D. Williamson Coming of Stork (1974) 5 They've been ripping into me about punctuality. 1989 G. Daly Pre-Raphaelites in Love vi. 279 At his first exhibition the press ripped into him. |
▸ trans. Computing. a. To copy (data, esp. digital audio files) from a CD or DVD, or from the web, into one's computer, esp. illegally. Hence: to transfer from a CD (or DVD) to a hard disk.
With quot. 1982 cf. sense 6e.
| [1982 Business Week 31 May 28/3 The user who rips off (an applications) software program and makes a copy to give a friend is a different class of pirate.] 1988 InfoWorld (Nexis) 27 June s12/4 You could spend all your time running from bulletin board to bulletin board, looking for illegal postings, ripping them into your copy buffer as evidence of evil misdeeds. 1990 Amiga Computing Dec. 122/2 With its help you can hunt down and rip the tunes with ease. 2000 ‘Dr. K.’ Compl. Hacker's Handbk. xi. 148 The MP3 scene gained early notoriety through the mass copying and distribution of tracks ‘ripped’ from CDs. 2004 Computer Music ((Beginners Special)) Apr. 83/1 You can then record these sounds into your computer (or more likely ‘rip’ them internally from your CD-ROM drive). |
b. To copy the contents of (a CD or DVD) in this way. Also: to produce or write (a CD or DVD) by copying files from elsewhere.
| 2000 Austral. Personal Computer May 71/2 This still allows users to copy and rip CDs for personal use. 2001 U.S. News & World Rep. 26 Nov. 66/3 So you've ripped your CDs into MP3 files and grouped them into long playlists, but the tunes are trapped in your PC. 2003 Wall St. Jrnl. 16 June r10/4 Verbatim, the disc and CD maker, sells writeable CDs that look like vinyl 45s... Now you can rip a mix CD of your oldies and still have that old-school cachet. |
▪ XI. † rip, ? v.3 Obs. rare.
(Perh. ad. Du. rep, imper. of reppen to make haste, but the contexts are not decisive; it may be a mere exclamation, or a fig. use of rip v.2)
| 1592 Nashe Four Lett. Confut. Wks. (Grosart) II. 239 Wilt thou neuer leaue afflicting a dead Carcasse..? a wispe, a wispe, rippe, rippe, you kitchin-stuffe wrangler! 1600 Dekker Shoemaker's Holiday Dram. Wks. 1873 I. 29 Auaunt Kitchin-stuffe, rippe you browne bread tannikin; out of my sight. 1609 R. Armin Maids of More C 3 b, O well sung Nightingale, a boord a boord there, ha rip there. |