torn

1. 1
   verb

   Past participle of tear.

   The old flag had been torn by years of wind and rain.

   Several pages were torn from the ledger before it reached the archive.

   Note

   Tear is irregular: its simple past is tore, and torn is kept for perfect and passive constructions after have or be (the flag has been torn, a page was torn out). It carries every sense of the verb, from ripping cloth to demolishing (torn down) to breaking apart a nation or a family. That last, abstract use is the bridge to the "undecided" adjective.

2. 2
   adjective

   Unable to decide between two or more competing options that pull in different directions.

   Voters were torn between the two candidates right up to election day.

   She remained torn over whether to accept the offer abroad.

   Similarundecided, conflicted, divided, ambivalent

   Oppositedecided, certain, resolved

   Note

   Indecision is pictured here as being pulled in two directions at once. The word usually follows a verb such as be, feel or remain, and its signature construction is torn between: torn between pizza and hamburgers. For a single question, use over or about instead. Unlike the participle, it is gradable (more torn, most torn), so it readily takes intensifiers like deeply or utterly.

3. 3
   adjective

   Having deep, irregular cuts along the margin, as seen on certain plant leaves.

   The herb's leaves were distinctly torn along their margins.

   Each frond appeared torn, its edges cut deeply and unevenly.

   Similarjagged, ragged

   Oppositesmooth

   Note

   A botanist's word for a leaf edge that looks ripped rather than patterned. The incisions run deep and vary in size and spacing. That unevenness separates it from a toothed or lobed margin, where the divisions repeat regularly. It sits close to lacerate, the more formal term for a margin that looks slashed.

Showing meanings only. Show all 3