rips

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of rip.

   The dog rips through the cardboard box to reach the toy inside.

   A careless tug rips the seam along the shoulder of the jacket.

   Note

   The present-tense form shares its spelling with the plural noun, but its object or preposition usually gives it away. It works with or without an object: she rips the letter open, but the fabric rips at the seam. Followed by through, it turns to speed and damage, as when a storm rips through town. In woodworking, a saw rips a board when it cuts along the grain.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of rip.

   The tailor patched the rips before returning the coat to its owner.

   Lifeguards warned beachgoers about the strong rips off the point.

   Note

   The plural does more than count tears in cloth or paper. For a stretch of broken water in a river, rougher than a smooth current but gentler than rapids, the word is naturally plural: you speak of the rips below a bend. In Australia and New Zealand, rips are rip currents, the seaward outflows swimmers are warned about. In the UK, a pupil could also collect rips as black marks for substandard work.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2