word-vault

{ "term": "tear", "partOfSpeech": "verb", "ox3000": true, "cefr": "b2", "verbForms": { "presentSimple": { "iYouWeThey": "tear", "heSheIt": "tears" }, "pastSimple": "tore", "pastParticiple": "torn", "ingForm": "tearing" }, "definitions": [ { "senseNumber": 1, "definition": "to damage something by pulling it apart or into pieces or by cutting it on something sharp; to become damaged in this way", "sensetop": "tear something + adv./prep.tear (something)tear something + adj.", "cefr": "b2", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "I tore my jeans on the fence.", "contextForm": "tear something + adv./prep." }, { "text": "I tore a hole in my jeans." }, { "text": "He tore the letter in two." }, { "text": "I tore the picture into pieces." }, { "text": "The letter had been torn to shreds." }, { "text": "His clothes were badly torn.", "contextForm": "tear (something)" }, { "text": "Careful—the fabric tears very easily." }, { "text": "I tore the package open.", "contextForm": "tear something + adj." }, { "text": "I tore open the package." }, { "text": "The fabric snagged and tore at the seams." }, { "text": "His jacket had been torn to shreds on the barbed wire." } ], "synonyms": "rip", "collocations": { "adverb": ["badly", "easily", "almost"], "verb + tear": ["threaten to"], "preposition": ["at", "from", "off"], "phrases": ["tear free", "tear loose", "tear something in half"] } }, { "senseNumber": 2, "definition": "to make a hole in something by force", "sensetop": "tear something in something", "examples": [ { "text": "The blast tore a hole in the wall." } ], "synonyms": "rip", "collocations": { "adverb": ["badly", "easily", "almost"], "verb + tear": ["threaten to"], "preposition": ["at", "from", "off"], "phrases": ["tear free", "tear loose", "tear something in half"] } }, { "senseNumber": 3, "definition": "to remove something from something else by pulling it roughly or violently", "sensetop": "tear something + adv./prep.", "cefr": "b2", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "The storm nearly tore the roof off." }, { "text": "I tore another sheet from the pad." }, { "text": "He tore his clothes off *(= took them off quickly and carelessly)* and dived into the lake." }, { "text": "an article torn from a magazine" }, { "text": "Several pages had been torn out of the book." }, { "text": "She tore the label off the suitcase." }, { "text": "Our posters were torn down as quickly as we could put them up." } ], "synonyms": "rip" }, { "senseNumber": 4, "definition": "to pull yourself/somebody away by force from somebody/something that is holding you or them", "sensetop": "tear yourself/somebody from somebody/somethingtear yourself/somebody + adj.", "examples": [ { "text": "She tore herself from his grasp.", "contextForm": "tear yourself/somebody from somebody/something" }, { "text": "He tore himself free.", "contextForm": "tear yourself/somebody + adj." }, { "text": "One error and he would have been torn loose and hurled overboard by the squalling wind." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 5, "definition": "to injure a muscle, etc. by stretching it too much", "sensetop": "tear something", "cefr": "c1", "examples": [ { "text": "a torn ligament/muscle" }, { "text": "She's torn a ligament in her right hand." }, { "text": "She tore a calf muscle playing squash." } ], "topics": ["Health problems"] }, { "senseNumber": 6, "definition": "to move somewhere very quickly or in an excited way", "sensetop": "+ adv./prep.", "examples": [ { "text": "He tore off down the street." }, { "text": "A truck tore past the gates." }, { "text": "The girls looked at each other and tore off towards the house." }, { "text": "A dog was tearing along the road beside the truck." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 7, "definition": "very badly affected or damaged by something", "examples": [ { "text": "to bring peace to a strife-torn country" }, { "text": "a strike-torn industry" } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to be unable to decide or choose between two people, things or feelings", "examples": [ { "text": "I was torn between my parents and my friend." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to criticize somebody, or their work or ideas, very severely", "labels": "(informal)", "examples": [] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to destroy or defeat somebody/something completely or criticize them or it severely", "examples": [ { "text": "We tore the other team apart in the second half." }, { "text": "The critics tore his last movie to shreds." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to strongly affect you in an emotional way", "labels": "(formal)", "examples": [] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to show that you are very angry or anxious about something", "labels": "(informal)", "examples": [ { "text": "She's keeping very calm—anyone else would be tearing their hair out." }, { "text": "I felt like tearing my hair out in frustration." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to destroy the most important part or aspect of something", "examples": [ { "text": "Closing the factory tore the heart out of the community." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "(to be) in a very great hurry", "labels": "(especially British English)", "examples": [] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to attack somebody very violently", "labels": "(often humorous)", "examples": [] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to speak angrily to somebody who has done something wrong", "labels": "(British English, informal)", "examples": [] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "used to say that something has happened to cause your plans to fail", "labels": "(British English, informal)", "examples": [] } ], "pronunciations": { "uk": [ { "pronunciation": "/teə(r)/", "audio": "te/tear/tear__gb_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/teəz/", "audio": "te/tear/tears__gb_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/tɔː(r)/", "audio": "to/tear/tore__gb_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/tɔːn/", "audio": "to/tear/torn__gb_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/ˈteərɪŋ/", "audio": "te/tear/tearing__gb_1.mp3" } ], "us": [ { "pronunciation": "/ter/", "audio": "te/tear/tear__us_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/terz/", "audio": "te/tear/tears__us_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/tɔːr/", "audio": "to/tear/tore__us_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/tɔːrn/", "audio": "to/tear/torn__us_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/ˈterɪŋ/", "audio": "te/tear/tearing__us_2.mp3" } ] }, "wordOrigin": "Old English teran, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch teren and German zehren, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek derein ‘flay’. The noun dates from the early 17th cent." }