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rend

verb [T]
 
 
/rend/ (rent or US also rended, rent or US also rended) old use or literary

Definition

to tear or break something violently: With one stroke of his sword, he rent his enemy's helmet in two. [+ adj] Firemen had to rend him free of (= pull him out of) the burning car.figurative A terrifying scream rent the air.Tearing and breaking into pieces
(Definition of rend verb from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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