tear

«tear» in Mova's school dictionary: a drop of salty water that comes from your eye, when you… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a tear, tears — rhymes with «ear»); noun (a tear, tears — rhymes with «air»); verb (tear, tears, tore, torn, tearing — rhymes with «air»)

meaning for a pupil

1) A tear (rhymes with «ear») is a drop of salty water that comes from your eye, when you cry, laugh a lot or get something in your eye. tree →

2) To tear (rhymes with «air») something is to pull it apart or make a hole in it, like paper or cloth. tree →

3) A tear (rhymes with «air») is a hole or split made by tearing. tree →

4) To tear somewhere (rhymes with «air») is to move very fast. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science, tears clean and protect the eyes and wash out dust; onions make you cry because of a gas they give off. In feelings lessons, crying is a normal way of showing sadness, pain, relief or even joy. In crafts, you tear paper for collage. Phrases: «in tears», «burst into tears», «tears of joy», «tear up», «tear down», «wear and tear», «tear off», «tear along».

examples

• A tear rolled down her cheek. tree →
• He burst into tears when his goldfish died. tree →
• Chopping onions brings tears to my eyes. tree →
• Don't tear the pages of the book. tree →
• There's a tear in my jeans. tree →
• Tear the paper into strips for the collage. tree →
• The dog tore down the street after the cat. tree →
• They cried tears of joy at the wedding. tree →
• Anastasia trembled, and burst into tears. tree →

note

A heteronym: same spelling, two sounds and meanings. «Tear» (eye) rhymes with «ear»; «tear» (rip) rhymes with «air». The verb is irregular: tear, tore, torn («I tore it», «It is torn»). Homophone of tear (rip): tare; of tear (eye): tier.

In the corpora

• Grown-ups sometimes cry "happy tears" when they feel strong happy feelings like love or pride.
• It comes and goes like waves, and people show it in many ways, from tears to casseroles on the doorstep.
• Happy tears come when people are moved, touched or very happy; they pass quickly and leave people feeling warm.
• How are you feeling?" Freya bursts into tears, and then it's over much quicker than she feared.
• TV talent shows are edited to be dramatic, so harsh comments and tears are often shown more because they get more viewers.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «tear» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.