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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Jun-hee and her baby both start crying, and Myung-gi also tears up from a distance. Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 27 June 2025 At one point, the city tore up a major road to open up a channel to drain flooding away from homes, CNN affiliate KHGI reported. Brandon Miller, CNN Money, 26 June 2025 Now, from the port city of Rotterdam to the canals of Amsterdam, volunteers work together to tear up hardscape, planting gardens to greenify their neighborhoods. Troy Aidan Sambajon, Christian Science Monitor, 16 June 2025 Round 1, Pick 7, Boston Red Sox Player Actually Selected No. 10: Cornelius Randolph, SS, Philadelphia Phillies Benintendi came out of nowhere to win the Golden Spikes Award in 2015 as a draft-eligible sophomore, then tore up the minors for a year before debuting with Boston in August 2016. Keith Law, New York Times, 18 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for tear up

Word History

First Known Use

1620, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of tear up was in 1620

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tear up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tear%20up. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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