as in tearing
to cause (something) to separate into jagged pieces by violently pulling at it
the prophecy that the disaster would cause people to rend their garments in mourning
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rending
Verb
-
Suddenly, there’s dozens of supervillains tearing the place (and each other) apart.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
7 Nov. 2025 -
Kraft was on pace to have an even stronger year in 2025, having already logged 32 catches for 489 yards and six touchdowns in eight games before tearing his ACL.—
Matthew Schmidt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
That’s why the album has gone down in history, the ultimate case of a superstar ripping it up to start again, in the mode of Kid A or Achtung Baby, Bowie in Berlin or Neil Young heading for the ditch.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
2 Nov. 2025
-
As a result of the accelerating AWS story and continued solid margin performance, Amazon shares are ripping about 13% higher in after-hours trading to about $252.—
Jeff Marks,
CNBC,
30 Oct. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Rending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rending. Accessed 30 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share