From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtear loosetear looseESCAPEto move violently and no longer be attached to something One end had torn loose. → tear
Examples from the Corpus
tear loose• At what stage did her briefs tear loose?• He had heard the pounding, too, and thought a storm shutter had torn loose.• The piece of paper tore loose.• Tightness throughout the abdomen making it impossible to cough or strain for fear that something will burst or will tear loose.• One of the clouds over Bald Hill tore loose and floated down the sky toward us.• One error and he would have been torn loose and hurled overboard to be smothered by the driving spray.• The great ice bridge had torn loose from its foundations and was starting to move downstream toward the Whirlpool.• In recent months they have begun to tear loose from this platform. 