tear apart
phrasal verb
tore apart; torn apart; tearing apart; tears apart
1
: to completely destroy (something) by tearing it into pieces
I couldn't open the box nicely, so I just tore it apart.
—often used figurativelyThe robbers tore apart the house looking for the money.
We tore the other team apart in yesterday's game.
We can't agree, and it's tearing our family apart.
2
: to criticize (someone or something) in a very harsh or angry way especially by describing weaknesses, flaws, etc.
The article tears apart the company's handling of the situation.
They tore him apart when he left.
Examples of tear apart in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
May 3, 2025 The presidential pardon signed by Jimmy Carter in 1977 was a sweeping invitation to thousands of Americans to come home and help heal a nation torn apart by the Vietnam War.
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Ruth Fremson, New York Times, 3 May 2025
After defrosting them in the microwave or in the fridge overnight, they can be torn apart by hand to become noodles or left whole to fill, roll up, and fry.
—Alex Beggs, Bon Appetit Magazine, 24 Apr. 2025
Without a strong central authority—not a dictator or a king but a unifying rule of law—a free state would be torn apart by demagogues and dissension.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025
For white dwarfs, this result was unexpected but was quickly attributed to the remains of asteroids torn apart by the dead star’s fierce gravity.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tear apart
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Ruth Fremson, New York Times, 3 May 2025
After defrosting them in the microwave or in the fridge overnight, they can be torn apart by hand to become noodles or left whole to fill, roll up, and fry.
—Alex Beggs, Bon Appetit Magazine, 24 Apr. 2025
Without a strong central authority—not a dictator or a king but a unifying rule of law—a free state would be torn apart by demagogues and dissension.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025
For white dwarfs, this result was unexpected but was quickly attributed to the remains of asteroids torn apart by the dead star’s fierce gravity.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tear apart
Cite this Entry
“Tear apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tear%20apart. Accessed 17 May. 2025.
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