tear down


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tear 1

 (târ)
v. tore (tôr), torn (tôrn), tear·ing, tears
v.tr.
1.
a. To pull apart or into pieces by force; rend.
b. To cause to be pulled apart unintentionally, as by accident: tore my pants on the barbed wire.
c. To lacerate (the skin, for example).
2. To make (an opening) in something by pulling it apart or by accident: I tore a hole in my stocking.
3. To separate forcefully; wrench: tore the pipe from the wall.
4. To divide or disrupt: was torn between opposing choices; a country that was torn by strife.
v.intr.
1. To become torn: The fabric does not tear easily.
2. To move with heedless speed; rush headlong: tore off down the road; tore along the avenue.
n.
1. The act of tearing.
2. The result of tearing; a rip or rent: The shirt has a small tear.
3. A great rush; a hurry.
4. Slang A carousal; a spree.
Phrasal Verbs:
tear around Informal
1. To move about in excited, often angry haste.
2. To lead a wild life.
tear at
1. To pull at or attack violently: The dog tore at the meat.
2. To distress greatly: Their plight tore at his heart.
tear away
To remove (oneself, for example) unwillingly or reluctantly.
tear down
1. To demolish: tear down old tenements.
2. To take apart; disassemble: tear down an engine.
3. To vilify or denigrate.
tear into
1. To attack with great energy: tore into his opponent.
2. To begin to do or eat something with great energy: tore into the meal.
tear off Informal
To produce hurriedly and casually: tearing off article after news article.
tear up
1. To tear to pieces.
2. To make an opening in: tore up the sidewalk to add a drain.
Idioms:
on a tear
In a state of intense, sustained activity: "After the Olympics, Bikila went on a tear, winning twelve of his next thirteen marathons" (Cameron Stracher).
tear (one's) hair
To be greatly upset or distressed.
[Middle English teren, from Old English teran; see der- in Indo-European roots.]
tear′er n.
Synonyms: tear1, rip1, rend, split, cleave1
These verbs mean to separate or pull apart by force. Tear involves pulling something apart or into pieces: "She tore the letter in shreds" (Edith Wharton).
Rip implies rough or forcible tearing: Carpenters ripped up the old floorboards. Rend usually refers to violent tearing or wrenching apart and often appears in figurative contexts: The air was rent by thunder. The party was rent by factionalism. To split is to cut or break something into parts or layers, especially along its entire length or along a natural line of division: "They [wood stumps] warmed me twice—once while I was splitting them, and again when they were on the fire" (Henry David Thoreau).
Cleave most often refers to splitting with a sharp instrument: The butcher cleft the side of beef into smaller portions.

tear 2

 (tîr)
n.
1.
a. A drop of the clear salty liquid that is secreted by the lachrymal gland of the eye to lubricate the surface between the eyeball and eyelid and to wash away irritants.
b. tears A profusion of this liquid spilling from the eyes and wetting the cheeks, especially as an expression of emotion.
c. tears The act of weeping: criticism that left me in tears.
2. A drop of a liquid or hardened fluid.
intr.v. teared, tear·ing, tears
To become filled with tears: The strong wind caused my eyes to tear.
Phrasal Verb:
tear up
1. To have tears well in the eyes: At the funeral, the mourners began to tear up.
2. To cause to have tears well in the eyes: By the movie's end, the whole audience was teared up.
[Middle English ter, from Old English tēar; see dakru- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tear down

(tɛə)
vb
(tr, adverb) to destroy or demolish: to tear a wall down; to tear down an argument.
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.tear down - tear down so as to make flat with the ground; "The building was levelled"
pull down, rase, raze, dismantle, level, take down
bulldoze - flatten with or as if with a bulldozer
destroy, destruct - do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of; "The fire destroyed the house"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

tear 1

verb
1. To separate or pull apart by force:
rend, rip, rive, run, split.
2. To remove from a fixed position:
extract, pluck, pull.
3. To move swiftly:
bolt, bucket, bustle, dart, dash, festinate, flash, fleet, flit, fly, haste, hasten, hurry, hustle, pelt, race, rocket, run, rush, sail, scoot, scour, shoot, speed, sprint, trot, whirl, whisk, whiz, wing, zip, zoom.
Informal: hotfoot, rip.
Slang: barrel, highball.
Chiefly British: nip.
Idioms: get a move on, get cracking, go like lightning, go like the wind, hotfoot it, make haste, make time, make tracks, run like the wind, shake a leg, step on it.
phrasal verb
tear down
1. To pull down or break up so that reconstruction is impossible:
demolish, destroy, dismantle, dynamite, knock down, level, pull down, pulverize, raze, wreck.
Aerospace: destruct.
2. To make defamatory statements about:
asperse, backbite, calumniate, defame, malign, slander, slur, traduce, vilify.
Law: libel.
Idiom: cast aspersions on.
noun
1. A hole made by tearing:
rent, rip, run.
2. Slang. A drinking bout:
binge, brannigan, carousal, carouse, drunk, spree.
Slang: bat, bender, booze, jag.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

w>tear down

vi → hinunterrasen (→ prep obj +acc)
vt sep poster → herunterreißen; house → abreißen, abbrechen; trade barriers → abbauen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
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References in classic literature ?
And then at length the glorious mad descent down three plunging cataracts of rocky road, the exciting rattling of the harness, the grinding of the strong brakes, the driver's soothing calls to his horses, and the long burnished horn trailing wild music behind us, like invisible banners of aerial brass,--oh, it stirred the dullest blood amongst us thus as it were to tear down the sky towards the white roofs of Yellowsands, glittering here and there among the clouds of trees which filled the little valley almost to the sea's edge, while floating up to us came soft strains of music, silken and caressing, as though the sea itself sang us a welcome.
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He can go, and good luck go with him." And after a long silence: "He would tear down this farm--the best in the county!
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I am sure it will be a real pleasure to you to tear down the beautiful Emerald City, and in return for your valuable assistance we will allow you to bring back to your country ten thousand people of Oz, to be your slaves."
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Then Milady attempted to tear down the doorcase, with a strength apparently above that of a woman; but finding she could not accomplish this, she in her fury stabbed at the door with her poniard, the point of which repeatedly glittered through the wood.
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At others he will with his own hands tear down some other man's gate and declare that a path has existed there from time immemorial, defying the owner to prosecute him for trespass.
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After declaring the checkpost illegal, an RDA team went to raze down the structure under the supervision of Director Land Anwar Baran, but the Civil Lines police refused to help tear down the traffic police checkpost.
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ISLAMABAD -- The Capital Development Authority (CDA) demolition drive to tear down illegal under construction structures along the Korang Nullah continued on day-three.
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Usually, the new owner will pay for the cost of demolition Dumpsters while the city provides the manpower and equipment to tear down the structure.
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