rends

verb

present tense third-person singular of rend
as in rips
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

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rends
  1. rips
  2. tears
Verb
  • It’s followed by Watts, coming in on drums slightly offbeat, and then Richards, who rips the song open with his five-string open G tuning technique.
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 July 2026
  • During his tour, a solar flare causes an electromagnetic disturbance that rips through the systems of civilization and into the data center.
    — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 June 2026
Definition of rips
Verb
  • When a testicle ruptures, the tough outer covering, called the tunica albuginea, actually tears open after an extremely forceful blow.
    — Angela Haupt, Time, 22 July 2026
  • Carter further complicates things in last week’s episode, when he drunkly tears an animal mount off the wall during Oreana’s grandmother’s big party at the 10-Petal Ranch.
    — Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 June 2026
Definition of tears
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.

Browse Nearby Words

renditions
rends
renegade
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Cite this Entry

“Rends.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rends. Accessed 2 Aug. 2026.

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