1. To rip or pull something down from a surface. A noun or pronoun can be used between "tear" and "down." The warden went around tearing down pictures and posters hanging up in prisoners' cells.
2. To dismantle or disassemble a large object or structure. A noun or pronoun can be used between "tear" and "down." After the concert, we'll need everyone on hand to help tear down the set.
3. To demolish a large object or structure. A noun or pronoun can be used between "tear" and "down." I can't believe they haven't torn that old building down yet.
4. To deride, vilify, or excoriate someone or something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "tear" and "down." The director has long been a bully, tearing down those around him who would dare to challenge his authority.I don't understand why he's always tearing my work down.
5. To travel down or along something very quickly. The kids tore down the stairs to see what Santa Claus had brought them for Christmas.The motorcycle tore down the street in an ostentatious display of speed and motor power.
1. slang Very upset or emotional. Sean has been tore down since his wife left him.A: "Did you hear that Joe died?" B: "I know, I've been tore down about it."
2. slang Intoxicated. Do you remember last night at all? You were tore down!
to criticize or degrade someone or something. Tom is always tearing Jane down. I guess he doesn't like her. It's not nice to tear down the people who work in your office. Why are you always tearing my projects down?
to dismantle or destroy something. They plan to tear the old building down and build a new one there. They'll tear down the building in about two weeks.
to race down something very fast. (See also tear something down.) The girls tore down the hallway as fast as they could run. They tore down the stairs and ran out the door.
1. To demolish something; raze something: The city tore down the old warehouses. I put up posters, but my opponents tore them down.
2. To take something apart; disassemble something: The mechanic tore down the engine. We took out the motor and tore it down to find out what was wrong with it.
3. To make vicious and damaging statements about someone or something; denigrate someone or something: The speakers tried to change the audience's opinion, but the audience tore the speakers down.
Second, he said the intersection has always been unsafe and the city's Urban Renewal Plan called for tearing down the building to improve the intersection, which connects Pleasant, Baker and Willow streets.
CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Sunday fined a television agency boss LE 150,000 ($27,000) after his company broadcast images of food rioters tearing down portraits of President Hosni Mubarak in April.
McNutt added that although some blighted buildings have a significant negative visual impact on their neighborhoods, the city is not tearing down them for esthetics, but because of a host of other problems caused by vacant and abandoned buildings.
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