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cut/tear sth/sb to ribbons

Definition

to destroy or badly damage something or someone by cutting or tearing them many times: Our new kitten has torn the living room curtains to ribbons.figurative The attacking soldiers were cut to ribbons (= killed) by machine gun fire.Tearing and breaking into pieces
(Definition of cut/tear sth/sb to ribbons from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)