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tear away

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
tear 1  (târ)
v. tore (tôr, tr), torn (tôrn, trn), tear·ing, tears
v.tr.
1. To pull apart or into pieces by force; rend.
2. To make (an opening) by ripping: tore a hole in my stocking.
3. To lacerate (the skin, for example).
4. To separate forcefully; wrench: tore the wrappings off the present.
5. To divide or disrupt: was torn between opposing choices; a country that was torn by strife.
v.intr.
1. To become torn.
2. To move with heedless speed; rush headlong.
n.
1. The act of tearing.
2. The result of tearing; a rip or rent.
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
To attack with great vigor or violence: tore into the food; tore into his opponent.
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.
Idiom:
tear (one's) hair
To be greatly upset or distressed.

[Middle English teren, from Old English teran; see der- in Indo-European roots.]

tearer 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: "Come as the winds come, when/Forests are rended" (Sir Walter Scott).
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 twiceonce while I was splitting them, and again when they were on the fire" (Henry David Thoreau).
Cleave most often refers to splitting with or as if 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 fill with tears.

[Middle English, from Old English tar; see dakru- in Indo-European roots.]

tear away [tɛə]
vb
(tr, adverb) to persuade (oneself or someone else) to leave I couldn't tear myself away from the television
n tearaway
Brit
a.  a reckless impetuous unruly person
b.  (as modifier) a tearaway young man
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Verb1.tear away - rip off violently and forcefully; "The passing bus tore off her side mirror"
remove, take away, withdraw, take - remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract; "remove a threat"; "remove a wrapper"; "Remove the dirty dishes from the table"; "take the gun from your pocket"; "This machine withdraws heat from the environment"
Translations
? tear away
vidavonrasen
vt sep wrappingabreißen, wegreißen (from von); to tear away somebody’s maskjdm die Maske vom Gesicht reißen; to tear something away from somebodyjdm etw wegreißen or entreißen (geh); if you can tear yourself away from the paperwenn du dich von der Zeitung losreißen kannst; if you can tear him away from the partywenn du ihn von der Party wegkriegen or loseisen kannst (inf)


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My grasp upon his throat effectually prevented any outcry, and so we struggled in grim silence; he to tear away from my hold, I to drag him over to his death.
Instantly the king realized the menace to himself and sought to fasten his eyes upon the eyes of Gahan, and in doing so he was forced to relax his concentration upon the rykor in whose embraces Tara struggled, so that almost immediately the girl found herself able to tear away from the awful, headless thing.
And you'll just wipe a tear away for poor old Daylight, and kind of lean toward me with a willing expression in your eye, and then I'll blush maybe some, being a young fellow, and put my arm around you, like that, and then--why, then I'll up and marry my brother's widow, and go out and do the chores while she's cooking a bite to eat.
 
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