▪ I. tear, n.1
(tɪə(r))
Forms: see below.
[OE. téar = OFris. târ, ON. tár (Sw. tår, Da. taar, taare), contr. from earlier OE. *teahr, *teaᵹr, teaᵹor, ONorthumb. tehr = OHG. zahar, zahhar (MHG. zaher, zâr, Ger. zähre), Goth. tagr; cogn. with Gr. δάκρ-υ, OL. dacrima (L. lacrima, -uma), OPr. dacr, dêr, Welsh dagr tear. The medial h or ȝ, already lost in OE., is found as ch in 16th c. Sc.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
(α) OE. teaᵹor, ONorthumb. teher, tæher, tehher, tehr; 5–6 Sc. techyr (pl. techrys), tichwr, teicher.
| a 1000 Guthlac (E.E.T.S.) 1340 Teaᵹor yðum weol hate hleordropan. a 950 Rituale Eccl. Dunelm. (Surtees) 40 Folces tehhero eft bisih (gloss on populi lacrimas respice). Ibid. 192 Pund saltes, of ðon sindon salto tehero. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark ix. 24 Mið teherum he ᵹecuæð ic ᵹelefo. Ibid. 44 Mið tearum vel tehrum. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. xii. 5 With cheikis freklit, and all of tichwris [ed. 1553 teris] bysprent. Ibid. xiii. Prol. 26 At euery pilis point and cornis croppis The techrys [ed. 1553 teicheris] stude, as lemand beriall droppis. |
(
β) 1–3
téar (
teor), 1–6
ter, 2
tiar, 3
ti(e)r,
tær, 4
tyar, 4–5
teer, 4–6
tere, 5
terre, 5–6
teere,
tyer, 5–8
Sc. teir, 6–7
teare, 6–
tear.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. x, Fulneah dead for tearum & for unrotnesse. a 900 tr. Bæda's Eccl. Hist. iv. xxix. [xxviii.] §2 Mæniᵹe þara broðra..tearas guton. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Mark ix. 24 Mið teorum [Lindisf. teherum] he ᵹicwæð ic ᵹilefo. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 292 Wiþ mist & wiþ ter. a 1175 Cotton Hom. 217 Al swa an huni tiar felle upe ȝiure hierte. c 1200 Vices & Virt. 57 Mid bitere teares. c 1200 Ormin 13849 Þurrh beȝȝske & sallte tæress. a 1300 K. Horn 654 Wiþ tieres al birunne. Ibid. 960 Spak wiþ bidere tires. 13.. Cursor M. 25551 Wit tere [Gött. ter] of ei. 1340 Ayenb. 173 Y-kuegt..be tyares of ssrifte. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 205 She þis haþ waished my feet wiþ teeris. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 199, I haue..Seyn thy terris. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 489/1 Teere, of wepynge, lacrima. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xxxiii. 123 He fonde him the terres at the eyes of hym. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems ix. 15 With teiris of sorrow. 1563 Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. §46 Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 107 Mourning and teris. 1584 D. Powel Lloyd's Cambria 199 The women check their tears. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. v. 76 Weepe wretched man: Ile ayde thee Teare for Teare. a 1600 Montgomerie Sonn. iv. 5 With bendit brou, and tuinkling teirs, I trou. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 72 The teares found dry in the corners of the eyes. |
B. Signification.
1. a. A drop of the limpid fluid secreted by the lachrymal gland appearing in or flowing from the eye; chiefly as the result of emotion,
esp. grief, but also of physical irritation or nervous stimulus: usually in
pl.| Beowulf 1872 Hruron him tearas blondenfeaxum. 971 Blickl. Hom. 189 Þa wæron his eaᵹan ᵹefyllede mid tearum. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 159 Þe ter þat Mon schet. c 1300 Havelok 285 For hire was mani a ter igroten. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 45 But if þei synge for þo soules and wepe salt teres. 1422, 1593, a 1600 [see A. β]. 1737 [S. Berington] G. di Lucca's Mem. (1738) 62, I saw his [Eyes] swimming in Tears. 1782 Cowper Let. to W. Unwin 4 Nov., You tell me that John Gilpin made you laugh tears. 1808 Scott Marm. i. Introd. 186 Drop upon Fox's grave the tear, 'Twill trickle to his rival's bier. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. ii. iv. §22 (1864) 297 There are also tears of joy. 1866 Huxley Phys. (1869) ix. §25 Under certain circumstances..the secretion of the lachrymal gland exceeds the drainage power of the lachrymal duct, and the fluid, accumulating,..overflows in the form of tears. |
b. As the visible feature of weeping: hence, put for this, or as the expression of grief or sorrow.
in tears, weeping, in sorrow or commiseration.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxxv. 6 Þa þat dos goed werkis in terys of penaunce. 1388 Wyclif Ps. cxxv[i]. 5 Thei that sowen in teeris; schulen repe in ful out ioiyng. 1435 Misyn Fire of Love 18 Is not þis þe vayle of teris & tribulacion? 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 18 The people..are all in teares and mournyng. 1637 Milton Lycidas 14 He must not flote upon his watry bear..With⁓out the meed of som melodious tear. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. i. 7, I was happy in listening to her tears. 1750 Gray Elegy, Epitaph ii, He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear. 1814 Wordsw. Laodamia 164 Yet tears to human suffering are due. |
c. in
colloq. phr. without tears, without difficulty or distress (
freq. used to describe a method whereby some discipline is easily mastered). Also
without-tears attrib. phr.| 1857 F. L. Mortimer (title) Reading without tears. 1877 ― (title) Latin without tears; or, One word a day. 1896 G. B. Shaw in Sat. Rev. 12 Dec. 623/2 (heading) Ibsen without tears. 1914 W. Owen Let. 1 June (1967) 257, I have a design in sending you this, viz. to keep you hungry to learn French I hope it won't be long before you read such works ‘without tears’; at least without tears due to grammatical difficulties. 1932 A. Huxley Brave New World xvii. 280 Anybody can be virtuous now. You can carry at least half your morality about in a bottle. Christianity without tears—that's what soma is. 1937 T. M. Rattigan (title) French without tears. 1956 New Statesman 11 Feb. 143/1 The late 19th-century concept of progress without tears. 1962 Times 7 June 17/3 It is a without-tears book. 1974 J. I. M. Stewart Gaudy i. 19 Charles and Mary..were well-mannered young people, and docile at least to the extent of being resigned to Scrabble as a species of Philology without tears. |
2. transf. and
fig. a. A drop of any liquid;
spec. a drop or bead of liquid spontaneously exuding.
(Sometimes with allusion to grief or lamentation:
cf. 1 b.)
| a 900 Cynewulf Crist 1174 Ða wearð beam moniᵹ blodiᵹum tearum birunnen. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 28 ᵹenim cileþonian..& huniᵹes teares. a 1175 [see A. β]. a 1240 Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 200 Swete iesu..min huni ter. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 284, I would these dewy teares were from the ground. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 609 The vine sometimes poureth forth great store of teares, whereupon..it looseth his force altogether. a 1626 Bacon New Atl. (1650) 29 The Teares or Woundings of Trees. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 505 The pearly tears Of Morning Dews. 1820 L. Hunt Indicator No. 20 I. 156 The tears of the sky at least were dried up. 18.. B. Taylor Manuela Poems (1866) 316 With the tears of amber dropping. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. xiv, Hawse-holes long discoloured with the iron's rusty tears. 1883 Century Mag. Oct. 873/1 Carrying large candles, which drip their waxen tears along the road [at a funeral]. |
† b. pl. The Italian sweet wine known as
lachryma Christi.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (1531) 53 b, There groweth the myghty swete wynes, as malueseys, tyeres & muscadels. |
3. spec. Applied to various gums that exude from plants in tear-shaped or globular beads, which then become solid or resinous.
| a 1000 ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 139/28 Opobalsamum, balsames tear. a 1400–50 Alexander 4974 Þar trekild doun of þa teres of iemmes, Boyland out of þe barke bawme & mirre. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. xvi. 308 Evphorbium is the gumme or teare of a certayne strange plante growing in Lybia. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. vi. 36 The Mastic is the teare or droppings of the Lentiscus. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xxviii. 286 One kinde..which they call Opobalsamum, which be the very teares that distil. 1686 W. Harris tr. Lemery's Course Chym. (ed. 2) 467 Opium is a Tear which distils of itself, or by Incision of the heads of Poppies. 1715 tr. Pancirollus' Rerum Mem. I. i. xii. 29 Myrrh, is a Drop or Tear, distill'd from a Tree in Arabia Felix. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 753, ½ oz. mastic in tears. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 671 Gum arabic..is in small rounded drops or tears. 1895 Daily News 25 Nov. 7/1 Fine tears of frankincense, the gum resin produced by an Indian tree. |
4. Anything resembling or suggesting a tear: see
quots.;
e.g. (
a) a defect in glass caused by a small particle of vitrified clay: see
quot. 1832; (
b) a detonating bulb, or Prince Rupert's drop.
| 1832 G. R. Porter Porcelain & Gl. xi. 249 Tears are, perhaps, the greatest defect that can be found in glass. Ibid., Wherever these tears exist, the material is brittle in a very high degree, so as frequently to crack, without any apparent cause. 1837 Penny Cycl. VII. 15/1 The smaller and rounder the eyes, the better the cheese is reckoned. They should contain a clear salt liquor, which is called the tears. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 746 It [Plomb gomme] has been found only at Huelgoet, near Poullaouen, in Brittany, covering with its tears or small concretions the ores of white lead and galena. Ibid. 1250 The block of metal is heated till it becomes brittle, when..it is broken to pieces, and presents an agglomeration of elongated grains or tears; whence it is called grain tin. 1857 Livingstone Trav. xxxi. 650 It [iron] occurs generally in tears or rounded lumps. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. ii, A Prince-Rupert's-drop..is a tear of unannealed glass. 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., Tears, the vitreous drops from the melting of the walls of a furnace. |
5. With defining words, in special senses: as
glass tear [F.
larme de verre], (
a) a detonating bulb (see
detonating ppl. a.); (
b) a pear-shaped glass-drop used for ornament (
Cent. Dict. 1891);
St. Lawrence's tears, a popular name for the Perseids, the meteors occurring about
St. Lawrence's day, Aug. 10;
tears of St. Peter, a West Indian plant,
Anthacanthus microphyllus (
Treas. Bot.);
tears of strong wine, drops of liquid forming on the inner sides of a glass partly filled with strong wine. Also
crocodile tears, job's
tears, juno's
tears.
| 1899 R. H. Allen Star Names 335 In the later Middle Ages they were known as the Larmes de Saint Laurent, Saint Laurence's Tears, his martyrdom upon the red-hot gridiron having taken place on the 10th of August, 258. |
6. attrib. and
Comb.:
a. attributive, as
tear-bath,
tear-dripping,
tear-flood,
tear-fount,
tear-spring;
tear-tap,
tear-track;
b. objective and
obj. gen., as
tear-compeller;
tear-compelling,
tear-creative,
tear-distilling,
tear-falling (
fall v. 49),
tear-shedding,
tear-wiping adjs.;
c. instrumental, as
tear-baptized,
tear-bedabbled,
tear-bedewed,
tear-besprinkled,
tear-blinded,
tear-bound,
tear-commixed,
tear-composed,
tear-dabbled,
tear-dewed,
tear-dimmed,
tear-distained,
tear-dropped,
tear-drowned,
tear-filled,
tear-fraught,
tear-freshened,
tear-glistening,
tear-logged,
tear-shot (
cf. bloodshot),
tear-stained,
tear-streaked,
tear-strewn,
tear-stubbed,
tear-stuffed,
tear-swollen,
tear-tricked,
tear-washed,
tear-wet,
tear-worn,
tear-wrung adjs.;
tear-nourish vb.;
d. of other kinds, as
tear-bright,
tear-like,
tear-shaped,
tear-thirsty (
cf. bloodthirsty),
tear-tight,
tear-trembling adjs.| 1624 Quarles Sion's Sonn. Div. Poems (1717) 359 My *tears⁓baptized Love. |
| a 1600 in Farr. S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 444 Thou let'st me wash thy feete in my *teare-bath. |
| a 1644 Quarles Sol. Recant. ch. xii. 5 (1645) 58 To meet Thy *tear-bedabled fun'rals in the Street. |
| c 1610 God Hears, etc. in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1848) 110 Thy *teares-bedewed praiers, And thy repentant sighes, shall haue accesse Before the throne of heaven. 1906 United Free Ch. Mag. Mar. 28/1 Crowds with tear-bedewed cheeks thronged the streets. |
| 1809 Malkin Gil Blas ix. iv. (Rtldg.) 314 My *tear-besprinkled visage. |
| 1813 Scott Rokeby v. xvi, *Tear-blinded to the Castle-hall Came as to bear her funeral pall. |
| 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart ii. i. 178 Her manner..had threatened the afternoon like a cloud that covers the sky but is almost certain never to break. Her eyelids looked rigid—*tear-bound, you would have said. |
| 1874 M. Collins Frances II. 191 Her hazel eyes *tear-bright with glee. |
| 1868 ― Sweet Anne Page I. 210 That *tear-compelling tragedy. |
| a 1618 Sylvester Panthea Author's Invoc. 5 In this *teare-composed terrene Globe. |
| 1915 Pearson's Mag. Jan. 46/2 She raised a *tear dabbled countenance. 1944 W. de la Mare Coll. Rhymes & Verses 217 Tear-dabbled cheeks, wild eyes I see. |
| a 1600 J. Bryan in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 333 Heare, heare with acceptation The *teare⁓dew'd words I speake. |
| 1811 W. Bristow Little Wanderer ii, She cannot see my *tear-dim'd eye. |
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1586 About her *teare-distained eye Blew circles stream'd. |
| 1893 F. Thompson Hound of Heaven in Poems 53 And now my heart is as a broken fount, Wherein *tear-drippings stagnate. |
| 1776 Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad vii. 298 The *tear-dropt bough hangs weeping in the vale. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. ii. Imposture 406 His *tear-drown'd eyes, a night of Clouds bedims. |
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. ii. 66 *Teare-falling Pittie dwells not in this Eye. |
| 1951 in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 11/2 Miss Grable, with *tear-filled eyes, showed..a letter she'd received from a soldier's buddy. |
| a 1631 Donne Valediction ii, No *teare-flouds, nor sigh-tempests move. 1916 R. Graves Over the Brazier 21 Till it seemed through a swift tear-flood That dead men blossomed in the garden-close. |
| a 1600 J. Bryan in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 334 My long *teare-fraught eies Haue seene thy plagues redoble Vpon mine enemies. |
| 1842 Faber Styrian Lake, etc. 261 White flowers, *tear-freshened, for pale sorrow's brow. |
| 1811 W. Bristow Stanzas written in ― church-yd. iii, At widow'd Love's *tear-glistning shrine. |
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 32 This Tree..by and by droppeth and distilleth a certaine humor, in a manner *tearlike. |
| 1931 R. Campbell Georgiad ii. 41 Holding our course among the *tear-logged wrecks. |
| 1873 E. Brennan Witch of Nemi, etc. 70 For she *Tear-nourishes the bud her true love bare Unto her lord. |
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. i. 5 *Teare-rent Sophyre, Synon-like betrayd What votall oathes, loues sterne fort, ne'er bewrayd. |
| 1893 Hodges Elem. Photogr. (1907) 88 *Tear-shaped markings may be produced. |
| 1598 Drayton Heroic. Ep., Matilda to K. John, If all remorcelesse, no *teare-shedding eie, My selfe will moane my selfe. |
| 1840 Browning Sordello iii. 744 Lashless eyes Inveterately *tear⁓shot. |
| 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. iv. 16 Ile prepare My *teare⁓stayn'd eyes, to see her Miseries. 1868 A. I. Menken Infelicia (1883) 120 Take my cold, tear-stained face up to yours. |
| 1923 Glasworthy Captures 181 The girl's face, *tear-streaked, confusedly pretty, had come up before him. |
| 1942 S. Smith Mother, what is Man? 76 My reverent reveries and fruitful plod Of *tear-strewn steps. |
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 12 That which my *Teare-stubbed penne..hath attempted. |
| 1939 Dylan Thomas Map of Love 12 After the feast of *tear-stuffed time and thistles. |
| 1768 C. Shaw Monody i, These *tear-swoln eyes beheld her fall. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 753 That was the last time she turned on the *teartap. |
| 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 49 Calling [Mars] the bloody God, the angry God,..πολύδακρυς the *tearethirsty God. |
| 1938 S. Beckett Murphy iv. 51 The human eyelid is not *teartight. |
| 1965 S. Smith in Listener 2 Sept. 347/3 Those awful *tear-tracks on her cheeks, As if she had cried a lot! |
| 1916 D. H. Lawrence Amores 74 *Tear-trembling stars of autumn. |
| 1880 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 88 In his hands he has flung His *tear-tricked cheeks of flame. |
| 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 431 The *tear-washed eye surveyed the severe trials. 1916 H. G. Wells Mr. Britling sees it Through iii. i. 389 Her tear-washed mind became vaguely friendly. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 175 Davy Byrne, sated after his yawn, said with tearwashed eyes:—And is that a fact? |
| c 1630 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 33 Her *tear-wet locks hang'd o'er her face. |
| 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. i. Vocation 151 O contrite heart's restorer! *Tears-wiping tame-griefe! |
| 1786 Burns Lament viii, My toil-beat nerves, and *tear-worn eye. |
| 1823 Byron Age of Bronze xiv, They voted..*tear-wrung millions—why? for rent! |
e. Special
Combs.:
tear-bag, (
a)
= tear-pit; (
b)
= tear-gland;
tear bomb, a bomb containing tear gas;
tear-drop, (
a)
= sense 1; (
b)
transf.,
freq. attrib., denoting something resembling a tear-drop in shape as: (i) an air cavity in glassware; (ii) a tear-shaped run in paintwork or ceramic glaze; (iii) a streamlined body or component of a vehicle, boat, etc.; (iv)
Surfing = pig board s.v. pig n.1 14; (v) a bead or jewel of tear-drop shape;
tear-duct, (
a) the lachrymal or nasal duct, which carries off tears from the eye to the nose; (
b) the lachrymal canal, which supplies tears to the eyes;
tear-gas, a lachrymatory gas used in warfare or riot control to disable opponents or make crowds disperse; hence as
v. trans., to attack with tear gas, to drive
out of a place with tear gas;
tear-gland, the lachrymal gland;
tear-jug rare = tear-bottle;
tear-passage,
= tear-duct;
tear-pit, the lachrymal or sub-orbital sinus found in many species of deer, a fold or cavity beneath the inner corner of the eye, containing a thin waxy secretion;
= larmier 2;
tear-pump (
slang) [
cf. pump n.1 d, v. 6], the source of tears shed effusively or in feigned emotion;
tear-punctum: see
punctum 4 b;
tear-sac,
= tear-pit;
tear-shell, a shell (
shell n.1 21 ) containing tear-gas;
tear-smoke = tear gas above. See also
tear-bottle.
| 1893 Lydekker Horns & Hoofs 64 The lachrymal fossa—in which rests the gland termed the crumen, larmier, or ‘*tear-bag’. |
| 1929 M. Lief Hangover xv. 238 I'm going to have Katie actually taken for a ride..and Rat-Face Walsh's yeggs following..with machine guns and *tear bombs. 1953 Wendt & Kogan Big Bill of Chicago xxiii. 271 Police squads cruising the city, machine-guns in their laps and tear bombs in their pockets. |
| 1799 H. Gurney Cupid & Psyche 10 (Jod.) No *tear-drop fills his frozen eye. 1830 Tennyson Talking Oak xli, A teardrop trembled from its source, And down my surface crept. 1904 Burlington Mag. IV. 141/1 Immediately under the bowl at the top of the stem is an air cavity, known as a ‘tear-drop’..a frequent form of decoration. 1922 [see curtain n.1 1 e]. 1933 Burlington Mag. June 265/1 The presence of ‘tear drops’ in the glaze [of Chinese porcelain]. 1936 Times 29 Dec. 12/6 The new design will allow the manufacturer [of motor vehicles] to indulge in the ‘tear-drop’ streamlining which has often been discussed in recent years but never achieved. 1948 Shell Aviation News No. 115. 6/1 A 25-foot, streamlined, teardrop antenna will project below the fuselage... This will be the main broadcasting antenna. 1962 Austral. Women's Weekly Suppl. 24 Oct. 3/4 Teardrop, type of surfboard with wide back and pointed front. 1965 Harper's Bazaar June 24 Diamond teardrop, {pstlg}500. 1980 D. Creed Scarab i. 9 A large and most marvellous pendant..suspending a teardrop pearl. |
| 1917 W. Owen Let. 19 Jan. (1967) 429 It was only *tear-gas from a shell, and I got safely back (to the party) in my helmet. 1927 New Republic 12 Oct. 202/2 The troopers on the outskirts..hurled tear-gas bombs and charged. 1927 Daily Express 16 Dec. 15, I imagine him, first, tear-gassing a river bank and so reducing all the crocodiles to genuinely hopeless grief. 1934 R. Stout Fer-de-Lance ii. 25 A gangster had been tear-gassed out of a Brooklyn flat. 1978 R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xliii. 499 Tear gas and Mace were not unknown in Yakov's line of work. |
| 1869 *Tear-jug [see Pisan a.]. |
| 1892 Pall Mall G. 30 Mar. 4/3 The treatment of obstructions of the *tear passages. |
| 1834 Penny Cycl. II. 69/1 The possession of lachrymal sinuses, or, as they are vernacularly called with reference to the stag and fallow-deer, *tear-pits,..distinguishes the greater number of the antelopes. |
| 1903 Farmer Slang Dict. s.v., To work the *tear-pump,..to weep. |
| 1878 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. I. 348 The *tear puncta..lie in contact with the ocular conjunctiva. |
| 1916 War Illustr. 23 Dec. 451/3 Don't you know the scent of *tear-shells when you smell it? |
| 1946 F. Burrows Let. 22 Aug. in Mansergh & Moon Transfer of Power (1979) VIII. 296 He added that the Police had used *tear-smoke on crowds frequently. 1949 Koestler Promise & Fulfilment i. xii. 136 The boarding party finally gained control of the vessel by using tear-smoke grenades..against them. |
Add:
[B.] [4.] (
c) A decorative air cavity in glassware;
= tear-drop (b) (i) below.
| 1916 J. S. Lewis Old Glass iii. 62 The tear of the glass-blower is a bubble of air blown into the centre of a mass of molten glass, possibly at first by accident and afterwards by design, as a form of ornamentation. 1961 E. M. Elville Collector's Dict. Glass 13/2 The formation of a tear was a quick and easy operation for the glass-maker. Using a blunt metal tool, he merely dented the surface of the metal he was working and covered the depression with a second layer of glass. |
▸
to tears: to the point of crying,
esp. in
to move (a person) to tears. Also
hyperbolically,
usu. in
to bore (a person) to tears;
cf. to death at
death n. 12.
| 1579T. Churchyard Calamitie of Fraunce in Miserie Flaunders sig. Bii, To tell you all, their battailes here a rowe, Would moue your minde, and heauie harte to tears. 1678 T. Shadwell Hist. Timon v. 73 Good men, you much surprise me, even to tears. 1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 282 It would have mov'd any one to Tears, to have seen how Friday kiss'd him. 1796 F. Burney Camilla V. ix. ix. 201 It sunk to his heart, dispirited him to tears, and sent him, extremely ill, to bed. 1819 Shelley Rosalind & Helen 36 His very gestures touched to tears The unpersuaded tyrant, never So moved before. 1893 Atlantic Monthly Jan. 84/2 Honorable Arthur, simple, frank, direct, sensible, and he bores me almost to tears. 1992 Gramophone Jan. 22/3 ‘This thing moves me to tears’, he says of the Vespers, though he has never heard the recording in its final form. 2002 D. Aitkenhead Promised Land xii. 121 He was starting up his own business..and within minutes was boring us to tears with share ownership and product-placement plans. |
▪ II. tear, n.2 (
tɛə(r))
[f. tear v.1] 1. An act of tearing or rending; the action of tearing; hence, damage caused by tearing (or similar violent action); usually in
phr. tear and wear,
wear and tear, including damage due both to accident and to ordinary wear: see
wear; also used
fig. in reference to body or mind.
| 1666 Pepys Diary 29 Sept., The wages, victuals, wear and tear..will come to above {pstlg}3,000,000. 1705 R. Cromwell Let. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1898) XIII. 123 A third for wages tare and ware, and upholding the stock. 1765 Foote Commissary i. Wks. 1799 II. 12 At that time of life, men can bustle and stir..; it is the only tear and wear season. 1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. to People 282 With ease to the horses, and not half the tear of irons, &c. 1874 Blackie Self-Cult. 65 Plated work will never stand the tear and wear of life. 1901 Scotsman 6 Mar. 9/7 The tear and wear of the campaign is telling severely on the..Yeomanry. |
2. concr. a. A torn part or place; a rent or fissure.
| 1611 Cotgr., Deschirure, a teare, a rent. 1755 Johnson, Tear,..a rent, a fissure. 1824 Mrs. Cameron Pink Tippet ii. 21 Mother has darned up the tears. 1891 Amiel's Jrnl. 195 Each darn and tear has its story. 190. Bookseller's Catal., This copy has the title cut round and mounted, a few slight tears in margins, in one case the tear extends to text. |
b. The line along which a piece of cloth or the like naturally tears.
| 1857 H. Miller Test. Rocks vi. 232 What a draper would term the tear of the one layer or fold. |
3. An act of tearing, in senses 8 and 9 of the verb.
a. A rushing gallop or pace;
esp. in
advb. phrase
full tear, full tilt, headlong.
b. A spree (
U.S. slang).
c. A rage or passion; a violent flurry.
d. Here may belong the Irish interjectional
phr. tear and ages (?
aches),
wounds, expressing astonishment.
| a. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxxiii, He could have..galloped away, full tear, to the next stage. 1892 Sat. Rev. 2 Jan. 16/1 The rattling tear across country. |
| b. 1869 B. Harte How Santa Claus, etc. Wks. (1872) 363 May be ye'd all like to come over to my house to-night and have a sort of tear round. 1895 Outing (U.S.) XXVII. 189/2 Then I should go on a tear—a regular one you know—and not come home for three whole days. 1896 Harper's Mag. XCII. 775/2 Got me off on a tear somehow, and by the time I was sober again the money was 'most all gone. |
| c. 1880 W. Cornwall Gloss. s.v. Taer, ‘She got into a pretty taer’. 1890 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. III. 128 If you keep quiet you may see a way out of the difficulty that you most certainly would not if you got in a ‘tare’. |
| d. 1841 Lever C. O'Malley lxvii, Tear and ages! how sore my back is. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy iii, ‘Tare an' ouns!’ roared Murphy, ‘how Andy runs’. 1893 Baring-Gould Cheap Jack Z. I. i. 13 ‘Tear and ages!’ sez I; ‘that's a wonder of the world’. |
4. Special
Comb.:
tear-fault Geol. = strike-slip fault s.v. strike n. 20.
| 1900 Proc. Geologists' Assoc. XVI. 465 It is this [‘lag’ fault] which gives one a clue as to the nature of some of the most striking ‘tear’ faults. 1924 J. G. A. Skerl tr. Wegener's Orig. Continents & Oceans 58 A lateral displacement of great dimensions, a so-called tear fault. 1957 [see slice n.1 2 b]. 1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 60/1 Another common type of shear—which caused little trouble to miners and so was unrecognised for many years—is variously known as a strike-slip, wrench, tear or transcurrent fault. |
[3.] b. For
def. read: A spree; in Sport, a successful run, a winning streak;
esp. in
phr. on a tear.
U.S. slang. (Later examples.)
| 1975 Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer 31 Mar. 2-d/4 Ted Simmons, on a hitting tear for the past week, singled twice, scored a run and drove in two as the Cards built a 3-1 lead going into the eighth. 1988 Chicago Tribune 17 Aug. (Sports section) 1/5 In the fifth, Mitch Webster, who has been on a tear, hustled his second single of the night into a double. |
▪ III. tear, a. and n.3 Now
techn. (
tɛə(r))
Forms: 5
ter, 5–6
tere, 5–7
teer(e, 6
teir,
teyre, 7
teare, 7–8
tare, 7–
tear.
[Known c 1400; app. from Du. or LG.: cf. MDu., MFl., MLG., LG. teer, têr, contracted from teeder, têder fine, thin, delicate, tender: cf. OE. t{iacu}edre, t{yacu}dre, tydder tender.] † A. adj. Fine, delicate; of the best quality. (Said
esp. of flour and hemp.)
Obs.| c 1400 Trevisa's Higden (Rolls) III. 9 Salomon his mete was euery day þritty corues of clene [v.rr. teer, tere, ter] floure and foure score corues of mele. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. i. 542 Damisflure, tere pyle, quhairon thair lyis Peirle, Orphany quhilk euerie stait renewis. 1532 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 34, ij pare of harden shettes, ij pare of hempe tere, and ij pare of lynan shettes. 1544 Ibid. 214 A pare of newe hempe tere shetes. 1541–2 in Lanc. Wills (1857) 80 A xj payre of teir hempen shetis. |
B. n. (The
adj. used
absol.) Something of the finest or best quality:
† a. The finest wheaten flour.
Obs. b. The finest fibre of flax or hemp.
| a. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 489/1 Teere, of flowre, amolum. 1521 Whitinton Gram. B vj, Pollis vel pollen..est idem in tritico quod flos in siligine, the tere of floure. 1521 Coventry Leet Bk. 669 But on haly-cake, and that they put no more theryn but the Teyre of thre stryke of whete. |
| b. 1541–2 in Lanc. Wills (1857) 81, xxv teir of hempe slippingis. 1601 Holland Pliny xix. i, As for the good Flax indeed, which is the teere or marrow as it were within of the Line. 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden cclxxxi, The Summer Hemp affordeth most Teere as they call it. 1706 Phillips (ed. 6), Tare of Flax, the finest dress'd part of it made ready for the Spinner. 1805 Usef. Proj. in Ann. Reg. 851/2 A machine for discharging a woolcomb or combs, by separating the tears from the noiles. 1837 Whittock, etc. Bk. Trades (1842) 238 (Flax Dresser) The strike is to pass through a fine hackle, and the hurds coming from thence saved for middling cloth, and the tear itself for the best linen. |
▪ IV. tear, v.1 (
tɛə(r))
Pa. tense
tore (
tɔə(r)),
arch. and
dial. tare (
tɛə(r)).
Pa. pple. torn (
tɔːn). Forms: see below.
[OE. ter-an, pa. tense tær, pl. tǽron, pa. pple. toren, = OLG. *teran (MD., MLG. teren, Du. teren, OHG. zeran (MHG. zeren, zern, Ger. zehren) to destroy, consume, Goth. gatairan to destroy. OTeut. *teran (tar, ˈtâron, ˈtoran-) was cognate with Gr. δέρειν to flay, OSlav. derą to tear asunder, Skr. dar- to burst. The OE. pa. tense tær (:—tar) survived as tare to 17th c., when it gave place in standard Eng. to tore, with o from pa. pple. toren, torn: cf. bore, swore. A weak pa. tense and pple. terede, tered, found in 15th c., are still dialectal, along with a mixed form tored, tord.] A. Illustration of Forms.
1. inf. and pres. stem. 1
teran (
teoran,
tearan) (
3 pers. sing. tirð,
tyrþ), 2–5
teren, 3
teoren, 3–6
tere, 4
teere, 5
teer, 6–
Sc. teir, 6–7
teare, 6–
tear.
dial. 7–
tare, 9
teer,
teear (
tiːr,
tɪə(r)).
| a 850 Lorica Gloss. in O.E.T. 172/2 Lacerandum, to teorenne. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxii. §1 He þe tirð on ða þrotan. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark ix. 26 Suiðe ᵹetearende hine. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. ibid., Moniᵹe teorende hine. a 1000 Riddles xxii. 14 (Gr.) Fæst and forðweard fealleþ on sidan ðæt ic [a plough] toþum tere. a 1050 Liber Scintill. 105 Hit tyrþ ealswa snaca. a 1200 Tereð [see B. 2]. [a 1225 Juliana 12 Ichulle leoten deor to teoren ant to luken þe.] 1382 Wyclif Gen. xl. 19 Fowlis shulen teere thi fleish. c 1430 Hymns Virg. 49 To teer him from þe top to þe toon. 1552 Huloet, Teare in pieces, delacero. Ibid., Tear, lacero. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. xi. 58 With glowing gunne that man to teir. 1662 Rump Songs (1874) I. 192 To tare the Rochet to such rags as these. |
2. pa. tense. (
α) 1–2
tær, 3–5
tar, 4–5
taar, 4–7
tare; 6
Sc. (9
dial.)
tor, 7–
tore (9
dial. tar,
Sc. tuir (
t{obar}r)).
pl. 1–2
tǽron, 3
tiere, 3–4
tere(n, 4
tare(n, 4–5
ter, 5
terre; 5– same as
sing.| α c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxxvii. 29 Ða tær he his claðas [L. scissis vestibus]. c 1000 in Cockayne Narrat. (1861) 15 Hie mid þæm þa men wundodon and tæron. c 1275 Lay. 25850 [Ȝeo] tar hire bi þan ere. Ibid. 24843 Hii..tiere ȝam bi þan heere. 13.. K. Alis. 4642 Alisaunder his cloþes taar. Ibid. 6876 Heore heir heo taren. c 1330 Tar [see B. 4]. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) ix. 81 And there weren Marie Cleophee and Marie Magdaleyne, and teren here heer. 14.. Hoccleve Compl. Virgin 239 A modir þat so soone hir cote taar Or rente. [1513 Douglas æneis xii. x. 129 Hyr rosy chekis to-tor and scartis sche.] c 1530 Hickscorner A ij b, The knottes the skyn tare. 1611 Bible 2 Sam. xiii. 31 The king arose, and tare his garments. 1653–4 Whitelocke Jrnl. Swed. Emb. (1772) I. 378 Three Dutch men of war.., whom she tore, and killed many of their men. 1828 Craven Gloss. s.v. Tar, He tar his breeks to tatters. |
(
β) 5
terede,
terid, 6
teared,
tearde,
teard.
| [a 1450 Alexander 4148 All þaire tents it to-terid.] 1578 Bowes Let. to Burghley in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) IV. 317 The king..teared his hairs. 1593 Pass. Morrice (1876) 78 Now tearde she her haire. 1599 M[oufet] Silkwormes 73 Whilst herbage greene with vnseene teeth they teard. |
3. pa. pple. (
α) 1–7
toren, 5–8
torne, 5
toryn, 6–
torn. (
β) 4
i-tore, 4–9 (now
dial.)
tore. (
γ) 5
teryd, 6
teard, 6–7 (9
dial.)
teared, 9
dial. tored.
| α [a 1000 Aldhelm Gloss. 5386 in Napier O.E. Glosses 135/2 Lacerari, totoren.] c 1325 Deus Caritas 25 in E.E.P. (1862) 127 Crist was toren vche a lym. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ii. 62 Many heres pulled and many gownes toren. 1499 Promp. Parv. 522/2 (Pynson) Weryd or worne or torne. 1619 S. Atkinson Gold Mynes Scotl. (Bann. Cl.) 15 Forced and torn from his bedd. a 1631 Donne Hymn to Christ 1 In what torne shipp soever I embark. 1658 Wood Life May (O.H.S.) I. 253 Toren downe. |
| β 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 331 Whan þey were i-tore. a 1400 Leg. Rood (1871) 143 Til trie fruit weore tore and toyled. c 1422 Hoccleve Min. Poems (1892) 227 Hir clothes hath shee al to-rent & tore. 1730 A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 103 They were tore to pieces. 1777 Horæ Subsecivæ 427 (E.D.D.) Joan's pitcher is tore. |
| γ c 1440 Promp. Parv. 522/2 Weryd, or teryd, or torvon. a 1529 Skelton Col. Cloute 1203 To be teared thus and torne. 1558 T. Phaer æneid ii. D j b, By Grekes shall Troy not now be teard. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 37/1 Kingdoms got by wrongs, by wrongs are tear'd. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. 432 I've tard my throck. 1897 E. Phillpotts Lying Proph. i. vi, Just a rag tored off a petticoat. |
B. Signification.
I. 1. a. trans. To pull asunder by force (a body or substance, now
esp. one of thin and flexible consistence, as cloth or paper), usually so as to leave ragged or irregular edges; to rend. (Expressing either partial or complete separation of parts; in the latter case usually with
adv. or
advb. phr., as
to tear up,
to tear in (or to) pieces, etc.)
| c 1000 [see A. 2]. 13.. Seuyn Sag. (W.) 782 The grehound wolde nowt sessed be, Til that adder ware toren of thre. c 1386 Chaucer Shipman's T. 136 Though men me wolde al in to pieces tere. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 1688 Leve syre, where have ȝe bene, ȝoure clothus to tere. 1530 Palsgr. 754/2 He hath torne my gowne a foote and more. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 35 By heauen I will teare thee ioynt by ioynt. 1649 Bp. Reynolds Serm. Hosea i. 32 The Serpent can sting, but he cannot teare in pieces. 1709 M. Pierrepoint Let. to Mrs. Wortley in Lady M. W. Montagu's Lett. lxiii. 104 She will..tear the letter, and never answer it. 1777 Cook Voy. Pacific ii. vii. (1784) I. 291 They are always careful to join the small pieces lengthwise, which makes it impossible to tear the cloth in any direction but one. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. III. 96 The unpopular minister of finance was torn in pieces by the mob. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. vii, Engaged in tearing up old newspapers..into small pieces. 1902 Buchan Watcher by Threshold 268 The boy had torn his clothes. |
b. transf. To make (a hole, etc.) by tearing.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. v. 20 How these vaine weake nailes May teare a passage through the Flinty ribbes Of this hard world. Mod. You've torn a hole in my coat. |
c. To break (a hard solid body) by force or violent impact; to shatter, split, rive. Now
dial.| 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. lxxi. 145 b, Their Fregates..were torne in pieces and sunke. 1588 Sir W. Wynter Let. to J. Hawkyns 28 Feb. (P.R.O.), This winters weather..hath..torn many of our blocks, pulleis and sheevers. a 1600 Hooker Answ. to Travers §25 As water split or poured into a torn dish. c 1626 Dick of Devon i. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. (1883) II. 16 From the armed winds an hoast brake forth which tare their shipps and sav'd ours. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Art of Poetry 642 Like a baited Bear, If he hath Strength enough his Den to tear. 1828 Wheeler's Mag. Nov. 481 In this county [Hampshire] break is used for tear, and tear for break, as, I have torn my best decanter, or china dish; I have broke my cambric apron. 1888 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., Mind you don't tear the pitcher. Who've a-bin an' a-tord the winder? |
† d. Phr.
to tear a (the) cat: to play the part of a roistering hero; to rant and bluster:
cf. tear-cat in
tear- 2.
Obs.| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. ii. 31, I could play Ercles rarely, or a part to teare a Cat in, to make all split. 1610 Histrio-m. 8 Sirrha is this you, would rend and teare the cat upon a stage? |
2. To wound or injure by rending; to lacerate.
| a 1000 Ecgbert's Confessional §40 (Thorpe Laws II. 164) ᵹif hy[swin] deade men terað [laceraverint]. a 1050 Liber Scintill. 78 Terende weleras his he ᵹefremð yfel. a 1200 Moral Ode 274 (Lamb.) Þeor beð naddren and snaken..Þa tereð and freteð þe uuele speken. 13.. K. Alis. 5969 (Bodl. MS.) Hij ne shulle hem wiþ tooþ tere. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. viii. 91 To tere her skynnes bothe. 1526 Tindale Mark ix. 20 As sone as the sprete sawe him, he tare him. 1573–80 Baret Alv. T 297 All his bodie is rent, or torne..laceratus est toto corpore. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 678 Their defenceless Limbs the Brambles tear. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Epod. iv. 3 Thou Wretch, whose Back with flagrant Whips is torn. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 207 In wounds, in which the divided surfaces are much torn or bruised. 1875 T. Seaton Fret Cutting 96 To avoid tearing the wood when cutting against the grain. |
| absol. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 532 Ne sceal he teran ne bitan swa swa wulf. 1545 Brinklow Compl. 46 b, To teare lyke bearys, and to byte lyke cruel woluys. |
3. a. In various
fig. applications;
esp., in later use, to split into parties or factions.
| c 1000 St. Basil's Admonitio v. (1849) 46 Ne ðu hine ne tæl ne ne ter mid wordum. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 122 The members of the churche tore a sondre. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iii. 83 Though you thinke, that all, as you haue done, Haue torne their Soules. 1602 ― Ham. iii. ii. 11 To see a robustious Pery-wig-pated Fellow, tear a Passion to tatters. 1609 Ev. Woman in Hum. D iij, A Rogue..so tearing the sence, I neuer met with. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 707 Nor, when contending Kindred tear the Crown, Will set up one, or pull another down. 1779 Mirror No. 21 ¶2 My sneezing..which, she said, tore her poor nerves in pieces. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. III. 113 Christendom itself was torn with divisions. 1908 Daily News 24 Mar. 6 He, too, tears his finish, while he still has his old fault. |
† b. to tear (the name of) God,
tear the body of Christ, etc.: to blaspheme;
esp. to swear profanely by Christ's limbs, etc.
Obs.| c 1325 Song of Mercy 150 in E.E.P. (1862) 123 We stunt noþer for schame ne drede To teren vr god from top to to. [c 1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 146 It is grisly for to heere hem swere Oure blissed lordes body they to-tere.] 1539 [see tearing vbl. n.1 1]. 1557 F. Seager Sch. Vertue xi. C vij, What better art thou for this thy swearyng Blasfamouslye, the name of god tearyng? a 1624 Bp. M. Smith Serm. (1632) 126 Did not the Spaniards sweare, and curse, and teare God? |
c. Used of the effect of sounds,
esp. loud or ‘piercing’ noises, on the air, etc.:
= rend v. 4 b.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. ii. 162 Else would I teare the Caue where Eccho lies,..With repetition of my Romeo. 1607 ― Cor. v. iii. 151 To teare with Thunder the wide Cheekes a' th' Ayre. 1671 Milton Samson 1472 What noise or shout was that? it tore the Skie. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 665 All her fellow Nymphs the Mountains tear With loud Laments. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Praise Chimneysweepers, A shout that tore the concave. |
d. To harrow, wound, ‘rend’ (the heart, soul, feelings, etc.). Also with
apart,
up: to render distraught, upset (a person). In
pass. with
up (
dial. out): to be distressed, upset.
N. Amer. colloq.| 1666 Bunyan Grace Ab. §46 Now was I tore and rent in heavy case for many days together. 1718 Pope Iliad xxii. 526 Grief tears his heart. 1859 Helps Friends in C. Ser. ii. I. i. 28 That man torn by domestic affliction. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton xi, The young man is torn asunder with doubts and fears. 1898 F. P. Dunne Mr. Dooley in Peace & War 47 They say th' Spanyards is all tore up about it. 1950 R. Moore Candlemas Bay 240 Jeb, poor lamb, he was so tore out about you that he never said nothing. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xiii. 117 The few I did see when they came back tore me apart. One night..a kid came in to see me... His hair had turned completely white. 1972 Even. Telegram (St. John's, Newfoundland) 24 June 9/1 Robert A. Power, who said he was tore up from work in his younger days and was ‘no good now to trade and no good to sell.’ 1974 K. Millett Flying (1975) iii. 323 Pete is too delicate to pattern. Tears him up just to hear Winnie yell. |
e. to be torn between: to be distracted by (two equal but conflicting desires, emotions, or loyalties).
| 1871 L. W. M. Lockhart Fair to See I. viii. 148 Torn between her desire to underrate Eila and to preserve her own dignity. 1888 Mrs. H. Ward Robert Elsmere III. xxxv. 111 Agnes, torn between her interest in what was going on and her desire to get back to her mother, had at last hurriedly accepted this Mrs. Sherwood's offer. 1922 T. Wolfe Lett. (1956) ii. 31 The girl Laura, ‘torn between’ (as the saying goes) love for her beaten father and the blunt young apple grower. 1948 A. Paton Cry, Beloved Country ii. viii. 172 Jarvis was torn between compassion and irritation, and he stood and watched uncomfortably. 1971 G. Charles Destiny Waltz iii. 104 As usual in such cases he was torn between both sides, angry with Dorn for his patronage of the couple, impatient with them for being what they were. |
f. Colloq. phr. (chiefly in
pa. tense and
perfect)
to tear it: to spoil one's chances; to put an end to one's hopes, plans, etc.
| 1909 ‘I. Hay’ Man's Man xvii. 320 ‘I've fairly torn it, this time!’ he reflected morosely. a 1918 W. Owen in Poems (1920) 22 First wave we are, first ruddy wave; that's tore it. 1924 Kipling Debits & Credits (1926) 258, I expect I must 'ave kept carryin' on, till Headquarters give me that wire from Ma... That wire tore it. 1938 G. Greene Nineteen Stories (1947) 77 ‘I am English,’ Mr. Calloway said. Even that didn't tear it. 1954 M. Procter Hell is City vi. iii. 180 He looked at his watch. ‘That's torn it,’ he said. 1960 D. Lessing In Pursuit of English v. 185 Oh, my God, that tears it, if he's going to start. 1972 D. Delman Sudden Death (1973) iv. 110 ‘Ouch,’ she said, grinning... ‘Well, that tears that, doesn't it?’ |
g. In phrases with
up and indefinite
obj., descriptive of unrestrained excitement;
esp. in Jazz.
U.S. slang.| 1932 J. Dos Passos 1919 270 Bud had been tearing things up at the University and was on the edge of getting fired. 1955 Shapiro & Hentoff Hear Me talkin' to Ya 204 He had the first big colored band that hit the road and tore it up. 1963 Listener 14 Mar. 478/3 The trumpeter Wild Bill Davison, who ‘tore it up’ with admirable primitivity and sensuality. 1968 [see identify v. 1 b]. |
h. to tear down: to punish; to criticize severely.
U.S. colloq.| 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xxix. 381 I'll tear down all two of you. Now git down and pick up ever' one o' them peas and wash 'em off. 1978 I. B. Singer Shosha vii. 128 The insolence of a writer tearing down a piece before it's been performed! |
i. to tear apart, (
a) to subject to criticism; (
b) to search (a place) thoroughly.
| 1953 Manch. Guardian Weekly 1 Jan. 13/2 Carefully tear apart your editorial. 1977 ‘C. Aird’ Parting Breath xv. 176 Somebody was ready to tear the place apart. You should have seen Miss Moleyn's house. |
4. to tear (out) the hair in a frenzy of grief or anger: now a hyperbolical expression.
| c 1000 Judith 281 He þa..onᵹan his feax teran hreoh on mode & his hræᵹl somod. c 1330 K. Tars 100 He tar the her of hed and berd. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon i. 34 He..wrange his handes and pulled his berde and tare alle his heres. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 374 He tare his haire, rent his clothes. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. i. 523 He roared, he beat his breast, he tore his hair. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair li, She might tear her long hair and cry her great eyes out. 1855 ― Rose & Ring ix, Bulbo began to cry bitterly, and tore quantities of hair out of his head. |
5. a. To pull, wrench, or drag by main force from its attachment or fixed place. (With various advbs. or preps. according to sense.)
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) App. XX. 188 Hare fon come þere, Adoun of his hors henri hi tere Mid yrene crokes. c 1400 Rom. Rose 7315 That men ne may in no manere Teren the wolf out of his hide. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1966, I shuld tere out þi tunge and þi tethe euyn. a 1425 Cursor M. 9072 (Trin.) My kingis robe of me ȝe tere. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lv. 188 He..tare of helmes & strake out braynes. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. x. 36 The noble braunch from th' antique stock was torne Through discord. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World ii. (1634) 481 A great Earth-quake, which did teare downe halfe an Hill. 1667 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 121, I find many leaves..toren out. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. iii. vi. 67 By tearing up the Trees by the Roots. 1704 Swift Batt. Bks. Misc. (1711) 239 Who had tore off his Title-Page. 1705 Addison Italy 7 (tr. Lucan 1.) Ships from their Anchors torn. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xl, I could tear out mine eyes for their blindness! 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 387 The porters..tore down the placards in which the scheme was announced. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 872 They [molluscan tumours] may be easily torn out of the skin when mature. |
b. fig. To take away or remove by force or violence; to force;
refl. to force oneself away.
| 1574 Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1577) 310 Despiteful wordes that..breake her hart, & teare y⊇ teares out of her eyes. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 287 What, will you teare Impatient answers from my gentle tongue? 1647 May Hist. Parl. i. vii. 77 If a King will suffer men to be torne from him, he shall never have any good service done him. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian i, At length he tore himself away. 1829 Lytton Devereux iii. ii, I think I see her now, as she stood the moment after I had torn myself from her embrace. 1888 J. Payn Myst. Mirbridge (ed. Tauchn.) II. ii. 27 Before the gentlemen come in and tear you away from me. |
c. Phrases.
to tear off a strip,
tear a strip off: see
strip n.2 1 i;
to tear off a bit,
piece slang (
orig. Austral.): to copulate with a woman.
| 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 76 Tear off a piece, to coit with a woman. 1951 S. Longstreet Pedlocks iv. v. 222 Look, you come down and tear off a piece anytime. And the wine—Asti Spumante—she is ona me. I stand the wine. The girls, that is up to you. 1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 265 The vocabulary of impersonal sex is peculiarly desolating. Who wants to ‘tear off a piece of ass?’ 1977 Custom Car Nov. 67/2 Italian wives must sit and suffer if the men tear off a bit on the sly. |
6. intr. To perform the art of tearing; to make a tear or rent.
to tear at, to continue to pull at in order to rend or lacerate.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 258 b, Ye, and many moo sorowes dyd teare & thryll thorowe her herte. 1848 W. E. Burton Waggeries, etc. 25 (Farmer) They..kept on tearin at each other like a pack o' wolves. 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti xxxi, His hands, partially confined, were tearing at the inflamed flesh. |
7. intr. (for
refl. and
pass.) To become torn or rent;
dial. to burst asunder, split, snap, break.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 260 b, His handes & fete dyd rent & teare for the weyght of his blessed body. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 149 The Boards will Tear or Shake, which is in vulgar English, Split or Crack. 1710 J. Clarke Rohault's Nat. Phil. (1729) I. 229 Cloths and other Stuffs of this Colour must tear and wear sooner than those of any other Colour. 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) III. 352 Veil before the capsule swells, 4-sided; afterwards it tears into 2, 3, or 4 segments. 1838 Drummond in Mag. Zool. & Bot. II. 156 If attempted to be restored without..being first damped, the specimen tears through the middle. 1865 Kingsley Herew. vi, All of a sudden..the clouds rose, tore up into ribands, and..blew clean away. |
II. 8. intr. † To rant and bluster as a roisterer (
obs.);
† to vociferate (
obs.); to ‘go on’ violently, to rave in anger or excitement, to rage (
dial.).
| 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster iii. iv, Hee will teach thee to teare and rand, Rascall, to him. 1672 Dryden Marriage à-la-Mode iii. i, Three tailors..who were tearing out as loud as ever they could sing. 1690 Andros Tracts I. 207 Towns..which Rant and Tear at a great rate, because of a small Rate. 1736 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (1783) s.v. Tear, To rant, or tear along, tumultuor, debacchor, vociferationibus vias incessu implere. 1853 Thackeray Eng. Hum. i. (1858) 33 He goes through life, tearing, like a man possessed with a devil. 1897 G. Bartram People of Clepton v. 132 She stamped and foamed, and swore and tore. |
9. a. intr. To move with violence or impetuosity; to rush or ‘burst’ impetuously or violently.
colloq. Sometimes with the notion of a force that would tear its way through obstacles.
| 1599 Massinger, etc. Old Law v. i, The nimble fencer this, that made me tear And traverse 'bout the chamber? 1637 Suckling Aglaura v. i, (Stage direct.) Enter, tearing in, Pasithas. 1779 F. Burney Diary Nov., I cannot bear to see Othello tearing about in that violent manner. 1786 tr. Beckford's Vathek 56, I thought I heard..the shrieks of a thousand bats, tearing from their crannies. 1842 Thackeray Miss Tickletoby's Lect. ix, Edward came tearing down to the borders on the news. 1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile vi. 142 The boat tears on before the wind. 1894 Fenn In Alpine Valley I. 43 This river tore down the narrow valley with headlong violence. 1901 H. Furniss Confess. Caricaturist I. iii. 79 The animals snorted..and..tore off..at a tremendous rate. |
b. To make
one's way violently or impetuously.
| 1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia II. xiv. 328 Furiously..he burst up as if from the ground..tearing his way toward his idol. 1888 Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere I. x. 282 A little gully deep in bracken, up which the blast was tearing its tempestuous way. |
c. to tear into: (
a) to make a vigorous start on (an activity, performance, or the like); (
b) to attack vituperatively, reprimand.
| (a) 1901 M. Franklin My Brilliant Career xxxvi. 301 ‘Syb, I want to speak to you.’.. ‘Very well; {oqq}tear into it{cqq},’ as Horace would say. 1929 W. Smyth Girl from Mason Creek xiii. 131 ‘Three notes a man if we win out!’.. ‘Aw, make it five an' we'll tear into th' job.’ 1949 R. Harvey Curtain Time 8 Then the lights went down, the baton rapped sharply, and the orchestra tore into the overture. 1961 J. B. Priestley Saturn over Water ii. 12, I tore into the business of getting visas. |
| (b) 1934 in Webster. 1946 F. Sargeson That Summer 93 You could still hear them tearing into each other. 1954 J. Masters Bhowani Junction ii. xi. 94 The sahib tore into me as if I was a little boy he'd caught making a mess on the carpet. 1984 Miami Herald 6 Apr. 10a/1 Jackson..tore into both candidates in past debates. |
▪ V. tear, v.2 Now
rare.
(
tɪə(r))
[f. tear n.1] † 1. a. intr. To shed tears, to weep.
Obs. or
dial.| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xi. 35 Tæherende [Rushw. teherende] uæs se hælend. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. li. (1869) 95, I bigan to tere and to weepe and to sigh. 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 9 Its mother..Who absent blear'd and tear'd as much for him. a 1660 Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) II. 60 Eneas himself..too often teared for the losse of Troye. 1719 Hamilton in Christ. Instructor (1832) 694 Some of them were so affected that they teared also. 1806 J. Cock Simple Strains (1810) I. 103 (E.D.D.), I fell in wi' Geordy Brown, And he, poor saul, was tearin'. |
† b. trans. To pass (time) in weeping.
Obs.| 1575 Gascoigne Fruite of Fetters iii, I teare my time (ay me) in prison pent. |
c. Of the eyes: To shed or emit tears. Now chiefly
N. Amer.| c 1000, 1527 [see tearing ppl. a. below]. 1650 in Ritchie Ch. St. Baldred (1880) 86 Putting sneishen in his eyes to mak them tear. 1879 [see tearing vbl. n. below]. 1971 E. Shorris Death of Great Spirit i. 16 When your eyes teared and your head fell, I was afraid you were dying. 1980 J. Ball Then came Violence (1981) vi. 47 When her eyes teared again, he pulled out his own clean handkerchief. |
2. trans. To fill or sprinkle with or as with tears.
| c 1620 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 112 Feare teares your eyes. 18.. Century Mag. XXXVII. 545 (Cent. Dict.) The lorn lily teared with dew. |
Hence
ˈtearing vbl. n. and ppl. a.| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 72 Wið tyrende eaᵹan, ᵹenim þa ylcan wyrte betonican. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters C iv b, The same is good put in the iyen agaynst tering iyen. a 1660 Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) II. 135 The tearinge and fatherlie intercession of the saide religious persons. 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 778 A white spot formed on the cornea, along with much ‘tearing’ and ‘fear of light’. |
▪ VI. tear obs. form of
teer v., to plaster, smear.