tearing it up

Verb

tear it up (third-person singular simple present tears it up, present participle tearing it up, simple past tore it up, past participle torn it up)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tear, it, up.
   • Now, where's my Labour membership card, so I can consider whether to tear it up? Blast, it's plastic...2025 February 19, Christian Wolmar, “Reeves talks of 'growth' but pays lip service to the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 35
2. To compete extremely well, to trounce the competition.
   • Statistics not only help us keep track of who's tearing it up and who's stinking it up, they shape the way we think about the game.1996, Dan Gutman, Tim McCarver, The Way Baseball Works, →ISBN, page 178
3. To perform with great energy and flair.
   • Dad would see them watching me polishing the leather and he'd call me out on stage and the crowd went wild. Little twelve-year-old girl tearing it up.2009, J. B. Kohl, Eric Beetner, One Too Many Blows to the Head, →ISBN, page 188
4. To succeed in a big way.
   • I was in Florida doing my investing thing, absolutely tearing it up with huge returns.2008, Todd Babbitt, Millionaire by 28: Real Estate Investing for the Young & Ambitious, →ISBN
5. To display great energy or force.
   • The wind was tearing it up, the waves at least eight to ten feet high as the surf crashed on shore.2010, Gwenna Sebastian, Lost and Found
6. To display sexual prowess.
   • Girl, I'll give yo lil ass a nice lil workout. I can carry yo ass all over my spot and tear it up at the same time.2010, Lea Mishell, Teresa Seals, Mary L. Wilson, Tales from the Lou, →ISBN, page 125

See all 7 meanings of tear it up