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
January 2024 started with powerful storms sweeping across the southeast United States on January 8 and 9, including a tornado that tore apart the Florida Caverns RV Resort in the small community of Marianna, Florida, about an hour Northwest of Tallahassee.
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Visual Editors, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2024
There’s a lot of hacking and hewing in mysticism, that the self is something that has to be kind of torn apart, torn open.
—Sean Illing, Vox, 9 Dec. 2024
Aris’ supernatural romance follows a Beirut couple brought together and torn apart by cosmic forces, while Hadid’s doc is the middle part of a triptych that follows a traveling brotherhood of horsemen across Morocco.
—Ben Croll, Variety, 5 Dec. 2024
The Color Purple Alice Walker, 1982 This story of Celie and Nettie, two sisters torn apart in Depression-era Georgia, is my touchstone.
—The Week Uk, theweek, 22 Nov. 2024
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Visual Editors, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2024
There’s a lot of hacking and hewing in mysticism, that the self is something that has to be kind of torn apart, torn open.
—Sean Illing, Vox, 9 Dec. 2024
Aris’ supernatural romance follows a Beirut couple brought together and torn apart by cosmic forces, while Hadid’s doc is the middle part of a triptych that follows a traveling brotherhood of horsemen across Morocco.
—Ben Croll, Variety, 5 Dec. 2024
The Color Purple Alice Walker, 1982 This story of Celie and Nettie, two sisters torn apart in Depression-era Georgia, is my touchstone.
—The Week Uk, theweek, 22 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tear apart
Dictionary Entries Near tear apart
Cite this Entry
“Tear apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tear%20apart. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.
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