Word.ws English Dictionary

tears someone a new one

tears someone a new one is the third-person singular simple present indicative of tear someone a new one.

Meaning of tear someone a new one

Verb

tear someone a new one (third-person singular simple present tears someone a new one, present participle tearing someone a new one, simple past tore someone a new one, past participle torn someone a new one)

  1. (euphemistic) To express great anger toward (a person) for some perceived offence or shortcoming; to castigate.
    • Brian, Katie's step-father, had been in the office for over an hour, and Estella, who taught in the class below, had been hard pressed to stop her students from muttering and giggling at the low boom and roar of Mr Morris's voice as he, in the parlance of the day, 'Tore Ben a new one'.2016, Helen Callaghan, Dear Amy, →ISBN, page 80

Questions about tears someone a new one

What is tears someone a new one the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Tears someone a new one is the third-person singular simple present indicative of tear someone a new one.

Words near tears someone a new one in the dictionary

  1. tears off
  2. tears one's hair
  3. tears one's hair out
  4. tears out
  5. tears someone a new asshole
  6. tears someone a new one
  7. tears someone off a strip
  8. tears strips off someone
  9. tears to pieces
  10. tears up
  11. tears up the dance floor

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tears someone a new one (page history and authors); tear someone a new one (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.

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