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

Unaccompanied migrant children facing deportation lost their legal representation after Trump tore up contracts with their nonprofit and legal aid defenders. — Suzanne Gamboa, NBC news, 20 Aug. 2026

An emotional Kuyper held her face in her hands and appeared to be tearing up, before embracing her teammates as everyone clapped. — Natasha Dye, PEOPLE, 19 Aug. 2026

View gallery - 7 images Koenigsegg is paying tribute to one of its cars from over a decade ago, which never got the chance to tear up racetracks like it was designed to do. — New Atlas, 17 Aug. 2026

The tourists who are tearing up our building are the ones who should get out. — Linda Robertson, Miami Herald, 15 Aug. 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