rive

1 to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly road pavement that had been riven by the annual freeze-and-thaw cycle Synonyms break up, bust, distintegrate, dismember, disrupt, fracture, fragment, breakRelated Words atomize, crush, grind, powder, pulverize, reduce; blast, blow up, burst, detonate, explode; crack, pop, shatter, shiver, smash; chip, sliver, splinter, split; implode; destroy, ruin, wreckNear Antonyms doctor, fix, heal, mend, patch, rebuild, recondition, reconstruct, renovate, repair

2 to cause (something) to separate into jagged pieces by violently pulling at it the bitter disappointment threatened to rive my heart in two Synonyms rend, ribbon, rip, tear, shred, tatterRelated Words break, cleave, rupture, split; cut, gash, incise, lacerate, slash; butcher, dismember, dissect, hack, mangle