tearing (out)

verb

Definition of tearing (out)next
present participle of tear (out)
as in pulling
to draw out by force or with effort you'll never tear that secret out of me

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tearing (out)
  1. pulling
  2. prying
  3. extracting
  4. yanking
Verb
  • And often, data centers are pulling from municipal water supplies, Anisfeld said.
    — Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 5 July 2026
  • Haaland’s winning goal came after another bout of yanking and pulling; the striker tried to free himself by slapping the defender’s arm away, eventually just carrying on regardless.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of pulling
Verb
  • These evergreen or deciduous shrubs protect your garden oasis from prying eyes and create a sense of solitude.
    — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 24 June 2026
  • The two have already had a few chats away from prying eyes and shared a few kisses.
    — Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 10 June 2026
Definition of prying
Verb
  • The government is also extracting data from devices that law enforcement recently seized, Winik added.
    — Chloe Atkins, NBC news, 2 July 2026
  • The organizations extracting the most value have redesigned workflows around what AI makes possible.
    — Ahsan Shah, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Definition of extracting
Verb
  • Haaland’s winning goal came after another bout of yanking and pulling; the striker tried to free himself by slapping the defender’s arm away, eventually just carrying on regardless.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • Now, with the federal and state government yanking back plenty of that funding and directly barring the city from enacting some of its more aggressive climate plans, Higgins is left with a narrow road to tread toward progress.
    — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 1 July 2026
Definition of yanking
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

tearing one's hair
tearing (out)
tear into
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tearing (out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tearing%20%28out%29. Accessed 9 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tacit

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All