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
Her legs and arms are cruelly torn apart, and her extravagant dress soaked in red.
—
Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 14 Aug. 2024
Homicides not only tear apart families and neighborhoods, but can become political fodder in the presidential race.
—Russell Contreras, Axios, 13 Aug. 2024
The battle has torn apart decades-long friendships and business partnerships, sparked ugly spats on social media and dredged up old tensions around gender, race and civil rights — fault lines first drawn during Trump’s 2016 campaign.
—Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post, 30 July 2024
The hope is that the projects will help stitch back together a city torn apart by highway construction in the 1960s and 1970s that severed downtown from Hartford’s northern neighborhoods.
—Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 3 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for tear apart 
Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 14 Aug. 2024
Homicides not only tear apart families and neighborhoods, but can become political fodder in the presidential race.
—Russell Contreras, Axios, 13 Aug. 2024
The battle has torn apart decades-long friendships and business partnerships, sparked ugly spats on social media and dredged up old tensions around gender, race and civil rights — fault lines first drawn during Trump’s 2016 campaign.
—Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post, 30 July 2024
The hope is that the projects will help stitch back together a city torn apart by highway construction in the 1960s and 1970s that severed downtown from Hartford’s northern neighborhoods.
—Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 3 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for tear apart
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tear apart.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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 9 Sep. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share