tear up

verb

tore up; torn up; tearing up; tears up

transitive verb

1

: to damage, remove, or effect an opening in

tore up the street to lay a new water main

2

: to perform or compete with great success on, in, or against

couples tearing up the dance floor

a batter who's tearing up the league

Examples of tear up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The war has torn up a fifth of the country, but even with scant, erratic assistance, Ukrainians must emerge from the dust, to be applauded by the West, and go it close-to-alone again. —Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 24 Feb. 2026

The justices also debated whether lawmakers intended to protect the Postal Service from paying damages for intentional wrongdoing, such as a vindictive postal worker tearing up someone’s Social Security check. —Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026

Numerous maintenance employees attempted to clean up the spills as fans headed for the exits and even tore up the ground in front of one entrance in order to work on some pipes. —Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 21 Feb. 2026

There’s an argument to be made that the Panthers should tear up Jackson’s contract and bump his pay. —Joseph Person, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1620, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for tear up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup