"tear apart" meaning in English

See tear apart in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /ˈtɛɚ əˈpɑɹt/ Forms: tears apart [present, singular, third-person], tearing apart [participle, present], tore apart [past], torn apart [participle, past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|tear<,,tore,torn> apart}} tear apart (third-person singular simple present tears apart, present participle tearing apart, simple past tore apart, past participle torn apart)
  1. (transitive) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tear, apart. Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-tear_apart-en-verb-S5VLZKD0
  2. (transitive) to destroy Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-tear_apart-en-verb-z~oZCw4l
  3. (transitive) to cause to separate Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-tear_apart-en-verb-c8fTIcjk
  4. (transitive, figuratively) to severely defeat Tags: figuratively, transitive Synonyms: take apart
    Sense id: en-tear_apart-en-verb-2K5kndAf Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs formed with "apart", Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 13 16 20 51 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "apart": 28 6 19 47 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 9 12 23 57 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 8 6 14 72

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tears apart",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tearing apart",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tore apart",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "torn apart",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "tear<,,tore,torn> apart"
      },
      "expansion": "tear apart (third-person singular simple present tears apart, present participle tearing apart, simple past tore apart, past participle torn apart)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She tore her ex-boyfriend’s clothes apart in fury.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tear, apart."
      ],
      "id": "en-tear_apart-en-verb-S5VLZKD0",
      "links": [
        [
          "tear",
          "tear#English"
        ],
        [
          "apart",
          "apart#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tear, apart."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The bomb tore apart most of the town hall.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, The Room:",
          "text": "Johnny: You are lying! I never hit you! You are tearing me apart, Lisa!",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to destroy"
      ],
      "id": "en-tear_apart-en-verb-z~oZCw4l",
      "links": [
        [
          "destroy",
          "destroy"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to destroy"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1979, Joy Division (lyrics and music), “Love Will Tear Us Apart”:",
          "text": "Love, love will tear us apart again",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to cause to separate"
      ],
      "id": "en-tear_apart-en-verb-c8fTIcjk",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to cause to separate"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "13 16 20 51",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 6 19 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"apart\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 12 23 57",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 6 14 72",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011 February 1, Keir Murray, “Aberdeen 0 - 3 Celtic”, in BBC:",
          "text": "But Celtic could smell blood and they tore the Reds apart in the 12th minute.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 January 7, Gary Rose, “Manchester City 5-0 Huddersfield Town”, in BBC Sport:",
          "text": "That never looked likely and, to the Terriers' credit, they fought hard and defended well at times against a City side capable of tearing apart almost any team at any level.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to severely defeat"
      ],
      "id": "en-tear_apart-en-verb-2K5kndAf",
      "links": [
        [
          "defeat",
          "defeat"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, figuratively) to severely defeat"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "take apart"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtɛɚ əˈpɑɹt/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tear apart"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"apart\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tears apart",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tearing apart",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tore apart",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "torn apart",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "tear<,,tore,torn> apart"
      },
      "expansion": "tear apart (third-person singular simple present tears apart, present participle tearing apart, simple past tore apart, past participle torn apart)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She tore her ex-boyfriend’s clothes apart in fury.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tear, apart."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "tear",
          "tear#English"
        ],
        [
          "apart",
          "apart#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tear, apart."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The bomb tore apart most of the town hall.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, The Room:",
          "text": "Johnny: You are lying! I never hit you! You are tearing me apart, Lisa!",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to destroy"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "destroy",
          "destroy"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to destroy"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1979, Joy Division (lyrics and music), “Love Will Tear Us Apart”:",
          "text": "Love, love will tear us apart again",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to cause to separate"
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to cause to separate"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011 February 1, Keir Murray, “Aberdeen 0 - 3 Celtic”, in BBC:",
          "text": "But Celtic could smell blood and they tore the Reds apart in the 12th minute.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 January 7, Gary Rose, “Manchester City 5-0 Huddersfield Town”, in BBC Sport:",
          "text": "That never looked likely and, to the Terriers' credit, they fought hard and defended well at times against a City side capable of tearing apart almost any team at any level.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to severely defeat"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "defeat",
          "defeat"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, figuratively) to severely defeat"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "take apart"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtɛɚ əˈpɑɹt/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tear apart"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.