- tear
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun from the eyesADJECTIVE▪ angry, bitter, emotional▪
There were angry tears in Lily's eyes.
▪ happy▪ burning, fresh, hot, salty, warm▪Her eyes were blinded by scalding tears.
▪ genuine, real, wet (esp. AmE)▪ crocodile (= not sincere)▪They weep crocodile tears for the poor, but do nothing to help.
▪ great, huge, large▪ single, solitary, stray▪I wiped a stray tear from my eye.
▪ silent▪ helpless, sudden, uncontrollable▪ unshed▪His eyes were bright with unshed tears.
VERB + TEAR▪ cry, shed (also figurative), weep▪I won't shed any tears when Moira retires.
▪She wept silent tears when she heard his name.
▪ brush, brush away, dry, wipe, wipe away▪I picked the little girl up and helped dry her tears.
▪She wiped a tear from her eye.
▪ blink back, choke back, fight back, hold back▪He had to fight back tears of frustration.
▪ stop▪I couldn't stop the tears.
▪ hide▪He turned away to hide his tears.
▪ break down in tears, burst into tears▪She broke down in tears in court.
▪ move sb to tears, reduce sb to tears▪His father's angry shouting reduced the little boy to tears.
▪ brim with tears, fill with tears▪His eyes filled with tears.
▪ end in tears (= to have an unhappy result)TEAR + VERB▪ appear, brim in sb's eyes, come, escape, fill sb's eyes, form, gather, spill from sb's eyes, spill over, spring into/to sb's eyes, start, well, well up▪He could never read the letter without tears coming to his eyes.
▪Her tears spilled over her cheeks.
▪ drip, drop, fall, flow, overflow, stream (from sth)▪She ran out of the room, tears streaming from her eyes.
▪ course down sth, flood down sth, pour down sth, roll down sth, run down sth, slide down sth, slip down sth, spill down sth, stream down sth, trickle down sth▪A single tear rolled slowly down her cheek.
▪ stain sth, streak sth▪Tears streaked her face.
▪ glisten▪Tears glistened in her eyes.
▪ stand▪Tears stood in Oliver's eyes.
▪ blur sth, cloud sth▪Tears blurred his vision.
▪ burn (sth), prick sth, prick at sth, prick in sth, sting sb's eyes▪She felt tears pricking her eyelids.
▪ dry, dry upTEAR + NOUN▪ duct, gland▪ gas▪The police fired tear gas at the protesters.
PREPOSITION▪ in tears▪He came to me in tears.
▪ through your tears▪She tried to smile through her tears.
▪ tear for▪He shed no tears for his lost youth.
▪ tear of▪tears of happiness
▪ tear over▪It turned out to be a lot of tears over nothing.
PHRASES▪ bring tears to sb's eyes▪It brings tears to your eyes to see them having such fun.
▪ close to tears, near to tears▪More than once I came near to tears.
▪ a flood of tears, floods of tears▪We were in floods of tears at the end of the movie.
▪ a mist of tears▪I watched it all through a mist of tears.
▪ on the verge of tears▪ with tears in your eyes▪ wet with tears▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}Her cheeks were wet with tears.
noun in fabric, paper, etc.VERB + TEAR▪ have▪ make▪ fix, mend (esp. BrE)PREPOSITION▪ tear in▪This sheet has a tear in it.
PHRASES▪ wear and tear (= the damage to objects, furniture, etc. that is the result of normal use){{Roman}}III.{{/Roman}}verbTear is used with these nouns as the object: ↑dress, ↑fabric, ↑flesh, ↑gash, ↑gaze, ↑hole, ↑ligament, ↑muscle, ↑page, ↑paper, ↑sheet, ↑tendon{{Roman}}IV.{{/Roman}}verbADVERB▪ badly▪His clothes were badly torn.
▪ easily▪Careful—the fabric tears very easily.
▪ almost, nearly, practically▪The storm nearly tore the roof off.
▪ apart (also figurative), asunder (literary, figurative), off, out, up▪The dogs tore the fox apart.
▪We tore the other team apart in the second half.
▪communities that are being torn asunder by crime
VERB + TEAR▪ threaten toPREPOSITION▪ at▪The fabric snagged and tore at the seams.
▪ from▪I tore another sheet from the pad.
▪ off▪She tore the label off the suitcase.
▪ on▪She tore her skirt on a nail.
▪ out of▪Several pages had been torn out of the book.
PHRASES▪ tear free, tear loose▪She tore herself free.
▪One error and he would have been torn loose and hurled overboard by the wind.
▪ tear sth in half, tear sth in two▪She tore the piece of paper in half.
▪ tear sb limb from limb▪He threatened to tear me limb from limb.
▪ tear sth open▪She tore the letter open.
▪ tear sth to pieces, tear sth to shreds (often figurative)▪The critics tore his last movie to shreds.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
