Torn

Definition: Torn

Torn

Adjective

1. Having edges that are jagged from injury.

2. Disrupted by the pull of contrary forces; "torn between love and hate"; "torn by conflicting loyalties"; "torn by religious dissensions".

3. Shattered or torn up or torn apart violently as by e.g. wind or lightning or explosive; "an old blasted apple tree"; "a tree rent by lightning"; "cities torn by bombs"; "earthquake-torn streets".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "torn" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Synonyms: Torn

Discord

Torn, disunited.

Crosswords: Torn

Danish (thorn), Faeroese (rook, steeple, tower), Swedish (Castle, rook, steeple, thorn, tower).

It was very old, torn, faded (The Terminator; writing credit: James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd, Harlan Ellison)

And I'm caught right in the middle - torn between my loyalty to the boss and my desire to piss with the lights on. (Clerks.; writing credit: Kevin Smith)

I saw it with my friend Eleanor at the Loew's King now torn down (The Owl and the Pussycat; writing credit: Buck Henry; Bill Manhoff)

You, slave, will be torn apart by horses, to the plaudits of the troops and the amusement of the children (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; writing credit: Burt Shevelove; Larry Gelbart)

I mean to say, this is the first time I've been torn between loyalty and honesty (Raw Wind in Eden; writing credit: Dan Lundberg; Elizabeth Wilson)

I'm already torn (Torn; performing artist: Natalie Imbruglia)

In a world torn by change (I Do (Cherish You); performing artist: 98 Degrees; writing credit: Keith Stegall and Dan Hill)

Oh sure the banner may be torn and the wind's gotten colder (Run-Around; performing artist: Blues Traveler)

Where lives were torn apart (Candle In The Wind 1997; performing artist: Elton John)

What would you do if my heart was torn in two (More Than Words; performing artist: Extreme)

A Torn Page of Glory (1968)

Torn Curtain (1966)

The Torn Letter (1912)

A Town Torn Apart (1992)

Torn Apart (1990)

TORN BETWEEN TWO LOVERS  (performing artist: Mary McGregor )

Torn (performing artist: Natalie Imbruglia)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Lord, I'm Torn Between Two Masters: A Devotional Study on Genuine Faith from the Sermon on the Mount (reference)

• The Night Torn Mad With Footsteps: New Poems (reference)

• Torn (Sevens, Week #5) (reference)

• Torn Veil (reference)

  (more book examples)

Theater & Movies

• Torn Curtain (reference)

• Babylon 5 - Darkness Ascending / And All My Dreams Torn Asunder (reference)

• Centauri Doomsday: "The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father - Meditations on The Abyss" "Darkness Ascending - All My Dreams, Torn Asunder" "Movements of Fire and Shadow - The Fall of Centauri Prime" (reference)

• FMW (Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling) - Torn To Shreds (reference)

• Dream Syndicate: Weathered and Torn (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• Beat & Torn (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

This Hubble telescope image of the Trifid Nebula reveals a stellar nursery being torn apart by ... Credit: NASA.

View from across Constitution Avenue, N.W., from just west of 21st Street, looking southeasterly, circa 1919. The nearly identical "Main Navy" building is just beyond, at the left. These structures, completed in 1918 as World War I temporary office buildings, were finally torn down in 1970-71. Credit: NAVY.

See our torn flag still waving. Credit: Library of Congress.

Manhattan's changing skyline--20-story buildings are being torn down to make room for 40- and 50-story structures. Credit: Library of Congress.

The torn hat. Credit: Library of Congress.

Production. Airplane engines. Airplane engines assembled for testing in a Midwest plant. After the tests have been run, the engines will be torn down and all parts minutely inspected. After reassembly and another series of tests, the engines will be shipp. Credit: Library of Congress.

Victory food from American waters. At sunset fishermen mend nets torn by rocks on the ocean floor. A shortage of linen twine and Manila hemp needed for nets is only one of the war-time difficulties fishermen today must face. Credit: Library of Congress.

Rented house which will be torn down to make way for homes for defense workers of the expanding FSA (Farm Security Administration) housing project of Radford, Virginia. From nine days to as little as four days notice has been given to tenants and landhold. Credit: Library of Congress.

This porch was torn off the house in the background by the 1937 flood. Near Mount Vernon, Indiana. Credit: Library of Congress.

Side of Indiana farmhouse torn away by flood waters on Mackey Ferry Road. Near Mount Vernon. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

VVho would not think it an admirable peace betwix the mighty and the mean, when the lamb, without resistance, yielded his throat to be torn by the imperious wolf? Polyphemus's den gives us a perfect pattern of such a peace, and such a government, wherein Ulysses and his companions had nothing to do, but quietly to suffer themselves to be devoured. (Second Treatise of Government)

The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation. (reference)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

As a first step, the whole system of society is to be torn down, and built up anew

His clothes were torn and covered with mud.

Friend is torn apart from friend, children are torn from their parents, husbands from their wives

The fingers hung on strings against her palm, and the torn flesh was white and bloodless

This carload of torn sails is more legible and interesting now than if they should be wrought into paper and printed books

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

In some cases there may be small areas of the retina that are torn. These areas, called retinal tears or retinal breaks, can lead to retinal detachment (also known as detached retina or retinal tear). (references)

Virtually all of the structures of the ear can be damaged, in particular the organ of Corti, the delicate sensory structure of the auditory portion of the inner ear (cochlea), which may be torn apart. (references)

Civil Liberties

Burma

Since the early 1990's, security forces have torn down or forced villagers to tear down crosses that had been erected outside Chin Christian villages. (references)

Rwanda

In late 2000, several "storefront" churches consisting of wooden frames covered by plastic sheeting were torn down because the churches were not registered with the Ministry of Justice. (references)

Azerbaijan

The company's manager complained that some of its most profitable newsstands have been torn down arbitrarily in Baku and in regional cities, in an effort to run the company out of business. (references)

Travel

Ukraine

Rumpled, torn, and written-on bills are usually not accepted. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Torn away

Torn in pieces

Expressions using "torn": be torn ♦ be torn off ♦ be torn to pieces ♦ being torn ♦ blasted rent ripped torn ♦ get torn ♦ lacerated mangled torn ♦ tattered and torn ♦ torn apart ♦ torn grain ♦ torn into ♦ torn out ♦ torn piece ♦ torn tape relay ♦ torn tape relay installation ♦ torn tape switching center ♦ torn to pieces ♦ torn to shreds ♦ torn tread ♦ torn with remorse. Additional references.

Beginning with "torn": torn-haired, torn-off, torn-open, torn-out, torn-tape, torn-up.

Ending with "torn": battle-torn, riot-torn, strife-torn, strike-torn, trouble-torn, war-torn.

Containing "torn": war-torn war-worn.

Albanian

i shqyer (disjointed), gris (clip, rend, rent, rip, rip up, shred, slit, split, tear). (various references)

Arabic 

‏ممزق (disrupted, indented, jagged, lacerate, lacerated, ragged, rent, riven, ruptured, shredded, tattered), ‏ممزع (cloven, torn apart), ‏مشقوق (broken, cleft, cracked, rent, split, splitting). (various references)

Bulgarian 

разкъсан (bite to death, scattered), откъснат (cut off, detached, disconnected, solitary). (various references)

Chinese 

撕毁 (tearing, tore). (various references)

Czech

příè.min. od tear. (various references)

Danish

strimmel (scrap torn sheet, strip), overrevne fibre (torn grain), manuel,strimmelbaseret central (torn-tape message switch, torn-tape relay system, torn-tape switching system), manuel hulstrimmeldrift (manual tape relay, torn tape relay), iturevne ark (torn sheets), iturevet plade (torn-up plate), blade oedelagt af hagl (leaf torn by hail), afrivning (avulsion, bond liftoff, divulsion, torn tread). (various references)

Dutch

gescheurd. (various references)

Esperanto

ŝirita, ŝiriĝinta. (various references)

Farsi 

پاره شده , درهم دریده . (various references)

Finnish

revetä kahtia (be torn in two), repeytyä (be torn, tear), rakeiden tuhoama tupakanlehti (leaf torn by hail), rakeiden tuhoama lehti (leaf torn by hail), rakeiden hajottama tupakanlehti (leaf torn by hail), rakeiden hajottama lehti (leaf torn by hail), manuaalinen nauhareleointijärjestelmä (torn-tape message switch, torn-tape relay system, torn-tape switching system), manuaalinen nauhareleointi (manual tape relay, torn tape relay). (various references)

French

déchiré (torn apart). (various references)

German

zerrissen (disrupted, disunited, ripped, tattered), losgerissen, gerissen (broken, cagey, crafty, cunning, cunningly, quirkily, sharp, shifty, slippery, sly, slyly, wily, wrenched), durchgerissen. (various references)

Greek 

σχίζω (cleave, fist, rend, shred, skive, slash, slit, sliver, slot, splinter, split, tear, tear up, tore), μετοχή του tear. (various references)

Hebrew 

משוסף, משוסע (cleft, lacy, split), מקורע (rent), מבוקע (breached, cleft), קרוע (ragged, Riven, tattered), פקוע (split), דרוס (trampled, trodden). (various references)

Hungarian

tépte (tore), tép (pluck, tear, to pull, to tear, to tool along, to tool down, to zap, tore), szakadt (raggedy-ass, raunchy, sleazo, sleazy, tacky), szakad (split, tear, to split, to stream, to tear, tore), szaggat (rend, rent, tear, to jag, to rend, to tear, tore), szétszaggat (to lacerate, to tear, tore), megszaggat (to jag, to tear, tore), felsebez (to tear, tore), eltép (to tear, tore), elszakít (lacerate, tear, to break away, to tear, to tear away, tore), elszaggat (to tear, tore). (various references)

Indonesian

koyak (lacerated (of the hand), ripped), dobol (perforated), carik (classifier, remmant, stub), cabik-cabik (a piece of, ripped), cabik (piece, ripped, strip), betas (cracked). (various references)

Italian

strappato (ripped), lacero (break, lacerated, mangy, paper for recycling, rupture). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

すれ違う (a lot, bluntly, consecutively, heartbreakingly, heavily, making rude entrance, pass with no objection, profoundly, ragged, slender, slim, throbbing pain, throughout, to disagree, to miss each other, to pass by one another). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

ずたずた (ragged, shocked speechless). (various references)

Korean 

찢는 (ripped). (various references)

Manx

raipit (lacerated, mangled, rent, ripped). (various references)

Pig Latin

orntay.(various references)

Portuguese

rasgado (out). (various references)

Romanian

zdrenţuit (frayed, ragged), rupt (by the board, out at, ragged, ruptured, seedy, shabby), participiu trecut de la tear, ferfeniţos (tattered). (various references)

Russian 

рвать (belch, gather, pick, puke, rend, retch, rip, shoot the cat, tear, upchuck), рваный (lacerated, ragged), разорванный (in rags, lacerated, tattered), от tear. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

pocepan (ragged), particip proš. od tear, iskidan (riven, torn apart). (various references)

Spanish

roto (broken, broken down, dead, discarded, disrupted, hole, insolvent, lost, ragged), pp de tear, estropeado (blown, broken, broken down, crumpled, damaged, haywire, ruined, shop-soiled, shopworn, spoiled, spoilt). (various references)

Swedish

trasig (broken, kaput, out of order, ragged, tattered). (various references)

Turkish

kopuk (broken off, disconnected, disjointed, off, penniless). (various references)

Turkmen 

яyrtyk (broken, ripped), eleюan (tattered). (various references)

Vietnamese 

chỗ rách (tear). (various references)

lacer, lacero. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations

Words beginning with "torn": tornadic, tornado, tornadoes, tornados, tornillo, tornillos. (additional references)

Words ending with "torn": attorn, retorn, untorn, uptorn. (additional references)

Words containing "torn": attorned, attorney, attorneys, attorneyship, attorneyships, attorning, attornment, attornments, attorns, notornes, notornis, ritornelli, ritornello, ritornellos. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Torn" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: atorn, jorn, orn, tabrn, taorn, tarrn, tarvn, tdor, tiorn, tirn, Toan, toin, Tonry, toon, Toor, toord, tor, tora, Torand, torc, tord, Toren, torf, torg, torin, tork, torl, torm, Torna, torne, Tornio, torns, Tornsk, toro, torp, torq, toru, torun, torx, toun, touren, trn, Troarn, tronc, trond, trong, trons, troon, tunrn, turan, turnt, turq, Tvor. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: nor, not, ort, rot, ton, tor.

-2 letters: no, on, or, to.

+1 letter: front, intro, nitro, north, noter, snort, tenor, thorn, toner, trona, trone.

+2 letters: aroint, aroynt, atoner, attorn, burton, cantor, carton, citron, contra, cornet, cortin, craton, croton, enroot, forint, fronts, hornet, intort, intron, intros, matron, mentor, natron, nestor, nitros, nonart, norite, norths, notary, noters, nother, orient, ornate, outran, outrun, parton, patron, pronto, proton, ration, ratoon, ratton, retorn, rhyton, rodent, rotten, rotund, runout, snorts, stoner, strong, strown, tarpon, tenors, tenour, tensor, thorns, thorny, thoron, throne, throng, thrown, toners, tonger, tonier, tonner, torten, trigon, triton, trogon, tronas, trones, tropin, turnon, unroot, untorn, untrod, uptorn.