From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtear into somebody/something phrasal verb1 ATTACKto attack someone by hitting them very hard The two boys tore into each other.2 CRITICIZEto criticize someone very strongly and angrily From time to time she would really tear into her staff.3 to start doing something quickly, with a lot of energy I was amazed at the way she tore into her work. → tear→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
tear into • He roars and runs and tears into everything!• A 26 - year - old woman lost her unborn child when shrapnel tore into her abdomen.• She came again, her body wracked with spasms, her nails tearing into his arms.• A piece of shrapnel had torn into his belly and the blood had soaked through the field dressing and was attracting flies.• And then I tie up the boxes with the red-and - white string that always tears into my flesh.• Wash the lettuce and tear into pieces.• I saw the sand spurt up in front of me as bullets tore into the ground.• No large mining operations ever tore into this harsh expanse. 