tear someone/something apart

tear someone/something apart
1) destroy something, esp. good relations between people

a bloody civil war had torn the country apart

2) upset someone greatly

stop crying-it's tearing me apart

3) search a place thoroughly

I'll help you find it; I'll tear your house apart if I have to

4) criticize someone or something harshly

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • tear someone or something apart — tv. to riticize someone or something severely. □ I was late, and the boss tore me apart. □ I thought my paper was good, but the prof tore it apart …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • tear — tear1 W3S3 [tıə US tır] n 1.) [C usually plural] a drop of salty liquid that comes out of your eye when you are crying ▪ The children were all in tears . ▪ She came home in floods of tears . ▪ I could see that Sam was close to tears . ▪ Bridget… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • tear — tear1 [ ter ] (past tense tore [ tɔr ] ; past participle torn [ tɔrn ] ) verb ** 1. ) intransitive or transitive to pull something so that it separates into pieces or gets a hole in it, or to become damaged in this way: RIP: It s made of very… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • tear — I UK [teə(r)] / US [ter] verb Word forms tear : present tense I/you/we/they tear he/she/it tears present participle tearing past tense tore UK [tɔː(r)] / US [tɔr] past participle torn UK [tɔː(r)n] / US [tɔrn] ** 1) a) [intransitive/transitive] to …   English dictionary

  • tear apart someone — tear apart (someone/something) 1. to severely criticize someone or something. The critics tore apart his first novel, but he never gave up and finally achieved great success. His teachers tore him apart for cheating on the test. 2. to hurt… …   New idioms dictionary

  • tear apart something — tear apart (someone/something) 1. to severely criticize someone or something. The critics tore apart his first novel, but he never gave up and finally achieved great success. His teachers tore him apart for cheating on the test. 2. to hurt… …   New idioms dictionary

  • tear apart — (someone/something) 1. to severely criticize someone or something. The critics tore apart his first novel, but he never gave up and finally achieved great success. His teachers tore him apart for cheating on the test. 2. to hurt someone or… …   New idioms dictionary

  • tear — 1 noun 1 (C) a drop of salty liquid that flows from your eye when you are crying: Tears just rolled down his face. | tear stained cheeks | (be) in tears (=crying): My wife actually broke down in tears telling me. | burst into tears (=suddenly… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • tear apart — verb express a totally negative opinion of (Freq. 1) The critics panned the performance • Syn: ↑pan, ↑trash • Hypernyms: ↑disparage, ↑belittle, ↑pick at …   Useful english dictionary

  • apart — a|part [ ə part ] function word *** Apart can be used in the following ways: as an adverb: We had to take the engine apart. after the verb to be : I m never happy when we re apart. as an adjective (only after a noun): Madagascar is a world apart …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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