tear apart someone

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 someone or something badly.

The college was torn apart by antiwar protests.

The families of the victims were torn apart with grief and anger and sorrow.

Success has a way of tearing up relationships.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of tear apart (= pull into pieces)

New idioms dictionary. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • 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 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

  • tear apart — phrasal verb [transitive] Word forms tear apart : present tense I/you/we/they tear apart he/she/it tears apart present participle tearing apart past tense tore apart past participle torn apart 1) to make someone feel very sad, upset, or worried… …   English dictionary

  • tear — Ⅰ. tear [1] ► VERB (past tore; past part. torn) 1) rip a hole or split in. 2) (usu. tear up) pull or rip apart or to pieces. 3) damage (a muscle or ligament) by overstretching it. 4) (usu …   English terms dictionary

  • 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 — I CRYING ♦♦♦ tears (Pronounced [[t]tɪ͟ə(r)[/t]] in tear 1, and [[t]te͟ə(r)[/t]] in tear2.) 1) N COUNT: usu pl Tears are the drops of salty liquid that come out of your eyes when you are crying. Her eyes filled with tears... I just broke down and… …   English 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

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