Commentary: Includes: TEAR APART, TEAR AWAY, TEAR OFF, TEAR UP
Examples:
He tore a knee ligament in the opening win over Florida Atlantic in September.
The tornado tore apart the high school and flipped cars.
And the brambles tore her fair limbs.
Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore.
The leather tore around the zip area as well.
He manufactured Gorilla Pants, so strong that even a gorilla couldn't tear them apart.
She tore their argument apart.
He tore open the envelope.
The explosion tore off his helmet, destroyed his medical pack, and knocked him out.
Time to tear myself away from my computer and eat.
They were so absorbed with each other that you couldn't tear them apart.
He looked in the outer offices and found nothing as he tore the desks apart.
Mappings:
VerbNet: break-45.1,hurt-40.8.3-1-1,split-23.2
FrameNet: Experience_bodily_harm,Damaging,Cause_to_fragment
PropBank: tear.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1, 2
WordNet Verb Particle Constructions, Multiword Expressions:
tear_off 1
tear_up 1
tear_away 1
tear_apart 1
Examples:
The twister tore through Kansas.
They were really large pieces of hail the size of 20 pence pieces which tore through the sky.
Five years ago, explosions tore through two nightclubs in Bali, Indonesia, killing 202 people.
I tore through this book, unable to put it down until found out how it ended.
We arrived and Jade tore around the front yard.
The Crackajacks tore onto the punk/new wave scene like a cyclone.
Mappings:
VerbNet: run-51.3.2
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: tear.02
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 3
Commentary:
NOTE: May be used metaphorically Includes: TEAR DOWN, TEAR UP
Examples:
The defense built him up and the prosecution tore him down.
She tore down the banner and suspended Frederick for 10 days.
They tore down the old dance hall and added a game room.
They tore up the patio to make way for a vegetable garden.
Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: tear.05
WordNet Verb Particle Constructions, Multiword Expressions:
tear_down 1
Commentary:
NOTE: Can be both physical or metaphorical Includes; TEAR INTO
Examples:
Max tore into his meal like a starving man.
He tore into his opponent.
Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM
WordNet Verb Particle Constructions, Multiword Expressions:
tear_into 1
Commentary:
NOTE: Yes, it's the same spelling, different pronunciation
Examples:
Come on, you know you at least teared a little.
My husband always tears up at Hallmark commercials.
Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: tear.03
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 5
Examples:
Far from blending the old and new, India is torn between them.
I was torn between telling the truth and hurting her.
Black women voters are torn between Clinton and Obama.
I'm torn about whether to stick it out in this job or search for another one.
Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM
Commentary: Includes: TEAR APART, TEAR ONE'S HEART OUT
Examples:
But what they told me about the things he said just tore me apart.
It tears my heart out to know that many of them have been shunned by society.
Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM
Commentary:
NOTE: this sense is listed in WordNet, synonymous to 'pull a chicken' or 'pluck a capon,' but no examples of 'tear a chicken' can be found...
Examples:
(no examples found)
Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 4