rend
/rend/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To tear or split something apart violently or forcefully: The primary meaning of "rend" is to tear something into pieces with great force, often resulting in a violent separation.
- To cause emotional pain or distress: In a figurative sense, "rend" can mean to cause great emotional anguish, as if tearing the heart or spirit.
- To remove or separate something by force: It can describe the act of forcibly pulling or wrenching something away from its place or connection.
Examples of Usage
- Verb:
- The explosion was powerful enough to rend the metal door from its hinges.
- A cry of grief that seemed to rend her very soul echoed through the room.
- The lion used its powerful jaws to rend the flesh of its prey.
Advanced Usage
- "to rend asunder": to tear apart completely or violently. This is a more literary or formal phrasing.
- The civil war threatened to rend the nation asunder.
- "to rend the air": (idiomatic) a loud, piercing sound that seems to tear through the silence.
- The siren's wail rent the air, signaling the emergency.
Variants and Related Words
- Rent: The standard past tense and past participle form of "rend".
- He rent his garments in a display of mourning.
- Rending (adj): Causing great emotional distress; heart-rending.
- The documentary contained rending images of the famine.
Synonyms
- Tear: To pull apart or into pieces by force.
- Rip: To tear or split apart quickly or violently.
- Cleave: To split or sever, especially along a natural line.
- Lacerate: To tear or cut roughly, often used for flesh or figuratively for emotions.
Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions
(Note: "Rend" is not commonly used in standard phrasal verb constructions. Its usage is typically in more formal or literary contexts with prepositions like "from," "apart," or "asunder.") - Rend from: To tear something away from something else. - The child was rent from his mother's arms by the soldiers.
Related Idioms
- To rend one's garments/clothes: To tear one's clothes as a sign of extreme grief, anger, or despair (a historical or biblical expression).
- Upon hearing the tragic news, the king rent his garments.
- Heart-rending: Causing intense sorrow or pity.
- It was a heart-rending story of loss and survival.
Verb
- tear or be torn violently
- The curtain ripped from top to bottom
- pull the cooked chicken into strips