tear (someone or something) in twain
tear (someone or something) in twain
old-fashioned To tear someone or something into halves or two pieces of relatively equal size. The strongman impressed the audience by tearing a phonebook in twain with his bare hands. The demonic creature grabbed poor Ishmael and tore him in twain.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.