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 figuratively

The 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

Families there felt that their communities were being torn apart as the city moved to shutter schools with long and rich histories. —Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 13 June 2025

In January, a Waymo car was torn apart in Los Angeles. —Chad De Guzman, Time, 10 June 2025

Eric Adams’ collaboration has delivered nothing but embarrassment, money being stolen from our city coffers, and immigrant families being torn apart. —Zohran Mamdani, New York Daily News, 8 June 2025

The question now is whether Trump and Musk find some way to step back from a battle that is tearing apart one of the most consequential relationships in modern American politics. —Chris Megerian, Chicago Tribune, 6 June 2025

Rhymes for tear apart

• counterpart
• art
• cart
• carte
• chart
• dart
• fart
• haart
• mart
• part
• smart
• start