tear off
UK/tɛəɹ ɒf/US/teɹ ɑf/
tear off verb: to rip away from; to pull a piece from forcibly. Also the alternative form of tear-off.
Verb
tear off (third-person singular simple present tears off, present participle tearing off, simple past tore off, past participle torn off)
- To rip away from; to pull a piece from forcibly.
- Do not tear off the price tag if you want to return that shirt.
- Synonyms:
- detach
- To become detached by tearing or ripping.
- To leave or depart rapidly.
- The fugitive tore off down the alley.
- Synonyms:
- flee
- To remove all of a roof (shingles, etc.) down to the wood deck.
Also used as
tear off is also the alternative form of tear-off.
Synonyms of tear off
Forms of tear off
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | tears off |
| present participle | tearing off |
| past | tore off |
| past participle | torn off |
| Noun | |
| plural | tear offs |
Questions about tear off
- What does tear off mean?
- Tear off means to rip away from; to pull a piece from forcibly.
- What part of speech is tear off?
- Tear off is a verb.
- How do you pronounce tear off?
- Tear off is pronounced /tɛəɹ ɒf/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of tear off?
- The past tense of tear off is tore off.
Words near tear off in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tear off (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “tear off.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tear_off. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
