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tear
/teər/ verb (past tense tore, past participle torn)Definition
DAMAGE SOMETHING [T] › to pull paper, cloth, etc into pieces, or to make a hole in it by accident: The nail had torn a hole in my skirt.
BECOME DAMAGED [I] › If paper, cloth, etc tears, it becomes damaged because it has been pulled: The paper is very thin and tears easily.
tear sth out of/off/down, etc › to remove something by pulling it quickly and violently: She tore his picture down from the wall.
tear along/about/past, etc informal › to move somewhere very quickly: The kids were tearing around the house.
be torn between sth and sth › to be unable to decide between two choices: I'm torn between the apple pie and the chocolate mousse. → See also pull/tear your hair out
(Definition of tear verb from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary
© Cambridge University Press)
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