rend
verb
- to tear or split asunder
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɹɛnd/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English renden, from Old English rendan (“to rend, tear, cut, lacerate, cut down”), from Proto-West Germanic *(h)randijan (“to tear”), of uncertain origin. Believed by some to be the causative of Proto-Germanic *hrindaną (“to push”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱret-, *kret- (“to hit, beat”), which would make it related to Old English hrindan (“to thrust, push”). Cognate with Scots rent (“to rend, tear”), Old Frisian renda (“to tear”).
- A violent separation of parts.
“She'd been in a couple of minor car accidents herself, and witnessed a few others, and the rend of metal was unforgettable.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English renden, from Old English rendan (“to rend, tear, cut, lacerate, cut down”), from Proto-West Germanic *(h)randijan (“to tear”), of uncertain origin. Believed by some to be the causative of Proto-Germanic *hrindaną (“to push”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱret-, *kret- (“to hit, beat”), which would make it related to Old English hrindan (“to thrust, push”). Cognate with Scots rent (“to rend, tear”), Old Frisian renda (“to tear”).
- To separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to split; to burst.
“Powder rends a rock in blasting.”
“Lightning rends an oak.”
- To violently disturb the peace of; to throw into chaos.
“a scream that rent the air”
“We are most vulnerable now to the messages of the new subcults, to the claims and counterclaims that rend the air.”
- To part or tear off forcibly; to take away by force; to amputate.
“A time to rent, and a time to sow: a time to keepe silence, and a time to speake.”
“And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.”
- To be rent or torn; to become parted; to separate; to split.
“Relationships may rend if tempers flare.”