From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtear something ↔ up phrasal verb1 TEARto tear a piece of paper or cloth into small pieces SYN rip up She tore up his letter and threw it away.2 DESTROYto remove something from the ground by pulling or pushing it violently the remains of trees that had been torn up by the storm3 REJECT/NOT ACCEPT tear up an agreement/contract etc to say that you no longer accept an agreement or contract threats to tear up the peace agreement4 tear it up informal a) to have fun in an extreme way b) to do something, for example play music or dance, very well on a particular occasion → tear→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
tear up• I could feel my own tears welling up.• I still think it was them questions that tore Sixo up.• My immediate wish was to tear it up.• The tears had dried up a little.• A tear sprang up in his eye and meandered across his cheek.• He couldn't speak, and, to his horror, he felt tears welling up in his throat.• Why not tear them up like everyone else and contribute to the litter found on every bookie's floor?• She started to tear them up, slowly, deliberately.tear up phrasal verbif you are tearing up, you are starting to have tears in your eyes because you feel very sad, happy etc As she waved her mother goodbye, she found herself tearing up. → tear→ See Verb table 