# tearing

Pronunciation: say "TAIR-ing" US /ˈtɛɹ.ɪŋ/, UK /ˈtɛə.ɹɪŋ/

## Verb

1. Present participle of tear. — present participle and gerund of tear
   - Simple: Present participle of tear. Use this form for an action happening right now.
   - _The wind was tearing through the valley by midnight._
   - _Tearing the contract in half, she walked out of the meeting._

## Noun

2. The continuous overflow of tears from the eyes; epiphora. (pronounced: say "TEER-ing" US /ˈtɪɹ.ɪŋ/, UK /ˈtɪə.ɹɪŋ/)
   - Simple: Constant watering of the eyes, when tears keep running down the face.
   - _The doctor noted excessive tearing in the patient's left eye._
   - _Persistent tearing can signal a blocked drainage duct._
3. The act of ripping something apart, or the split that results; a laceration.
   - Simple: A rip or split made when something is pulled apart.
   - _The tearing of the ligament required months of recovery._
   - _A sudden tearing in the fabric ruined the new dress._
4. A visual glitch in which the display shows parts of two or more frames at the same time, breaking the image into mismatched bands.
   - Simple: A screen glitch where parts of two different images show at once.
   - _Players reported tearing whenever the camera panned quickly across the battlefield._
   - _Enabling vertical sync eliminated the tearing on his monitor._

## Adjective

5. Marked by great haste; very hurried and rushed. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Done in a great hurry and very rushed.
   - _She arrived in a tearing hurry, breathless and disheveled._
   - _The whole office was in a tearing rush before the deadline._
6. Extremely great in size or impact; enormous. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Very big or very strong, even huge.
   - _The play was a tearing success, selling out every night._
   - _They lived in a tearing great mansion overlooking the bay._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/tearing (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).