lacerate

1 of 2

verb

lac·​er·​ate ˈla-sə-ˌrāt 

lacerated; lacerating

transitive verb

1

: to tear or rend roughly : wound jaggedly

2

: to cause sharp mental or emotional pain to : distress

lacerative

ˈla-sə-ˌrā-tiv 

adjective

lacerate

2 of 2

adjective

lac·​er·​ate ˈla-sə-rət  -ˌrāt 

variants or lacerated

ˈla-sə-ˌrā-təd 

1

a

: torn jaggedly : mangled

b

: extremely harrowed or distracted

2

: having the edges deeply and irregularly cut

a lacerate petal

Examples of lacerate in a Sentence

Verb

The broken glass lacerated his feet.

The patient's hand was severely lacerated.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

As the rapid retreat of ISIS from the Mosul Dam indicated, U.S. aircraft can lacerate ISIS when its fighters come out in numbers on the offensive, or stop to set up mortar or artillery positions. —Steven Simon, Foreign Affairs, 26 Aug. 2014

Evaluations on customer-review websites are lacerating, and complaints to state attorneys general abound. —Peter Elkind, ProPublica, 13 Nov. 2024

Adjective

Reared in New York’s indelicate political culture, Trump does not like to appear meek, using rallies and his Twitter account to lacerate rivals. —Paul Schwartzman, Washington Post, 9 July 2018

Reared in New York's indelicate political culture, Trump does not like to appear meek, using rallies and his Twitter account to lacerate rivals. —Author: Paul Schwartzman, Josh Dawsey, Anchorage Daily News, 9 July 2018

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Latin laceratus, past participle of lacerare to tear; akin to Greek lakis tear

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1514, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

lacerate

verb

lac·​er·​ate

ˈlas-ə-ˌrāt

lacerated; lacerating

: to tear roughly : injure by tearing

a lacerated knee

Medical Definition

lacerate

transitive verb

lac·​er·​ate ˈlas-ə-ˌrāt 

lacerated; lacerating

: to tear or rend roughly : wound jaggedly

a lacerated spleen