English

Verb

tear up

1. (transitive) To tear into pieces.

   The student tore up his test after he found out his mark of 20%.

2. (transitive, idiomatic) To damage.

   The lacrosse practice really tore up the field.

   • 1994, Virginia Satir, ‎James Stachowiak, & ‎Harvey A. Taschman, Helping Families to Change, ISBN 1461628768, page 243:

     You talk about the same thing but from different points of view. He is saying, "Didn't hurt the car much." You're saying "He's tearing up the car and we're having to make payments on it."

   • 2012, Scotty Rae Hettinger, 5/22: Stories of Survival, Stories of Faith, ISBN 1434928322, page 231:

     We were making a joke about him not tearing it up; because the first person that puts a dent in it is going to get in trouble.

3. (transitive, idiomatic) To succeed dramatically in (an area of endeavor) or against.

   In his first year, his hitting tore up the league's opposing pitchers.

   • 2012 May 15, Scott Tobias, “Film: Reviews: The Dictator”, in The Onion AV Club:

     Taking advantage of her haughty obliviousness—Faris is every bit Margaret Dumont to Baron Cohen’s Groucho—Aladeen conspires to seize power back and tear up the new constitution before it’s too late.

4. (transitive) To wrench out of the ground.

   We tore up the weeds from the allotment.

See also

• tear it up

Etymology 2

See: tear.

Verb

tear up

1. (intransitive) To shed tears.

   After seeing Johnny tear up at that cheesy movie, I knew he was a loser.

2. (transitive, slang, vulgar) To have intense sex with.

   Chad tore up Stacy after that party.

3. (slang) To brutally assault someone.

   Jason tore up Todd after finding out that he was having sex with his sister.

Anagrams

• uprate, uptear