rip apart
phrasal verb
ripped apart; ripping apart; rips apart
1
: to completely destroy (something) by tearing it into pieces
The child ripped the toy apart.
Strong winds had ripped apart many of the little beach bungalows.
—often used figurativelya tragedy/scandal that almost ripped the family apart
2
: to criticize (someone or something) in a very harsh or angry way especially by describing weaknesses, flaws, etc.
Critics ripped the author's latest novel apart.
an article that rips apart the mayor's plan
Examples of rip apart in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The design won awards, but the cars produced by Fisker’s contract manufacturer in Graz, Austria, were riddled with software glitches, causing it to be ripped apart online.
—
Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2024
The shooting ripped apart 17 families, including 14 students and three faculty members, on Valentine’s Day in 2018.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN, 14 June 2024
That final twist notwithstanding, Murder House was a quality season that used the haunted house as an allegory to tell the story of a family ripped apart by grief and infidelity.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2024
Both parties are being ripped apart by the conflict in the Middle East, with the Tories facing charges of Islamophobia and Labour struggling to distance itself from antisemitism that festered under former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
—Danica Kirka, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 May 2024
The family was ripped apart on Sept. 25, 2017, when Flewellen was involved in a horrific single car accident after dropping her boys off at school.
—Susan Young, Peoplemag, 14 May 2024
Once the chalky fungal plug is ripped apart, the infected and disemboweled cicada flies around, raining down fluffy, brown spores.
—Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 13 May 2024
But, some of them enjoy the nostalgia of their throwback glam — mainly season 5 and All Stars 2 legend Roxxxy Andrews, who gave her sisters three of her old looks to savagely rip apart.
—EW.com, 13 May 2024
Kalamazoo County’s Portage area was hard hit as a FedEx facility was ripped apart and more than a dozen mobile homes were destroyed.
—George Walker Iv, Joey Cappelletti, and Ed White, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 May 2024
Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2024
The shooting ripped apart 17 families, including 14 students and three faculty members, on Valentine’s Day in 2018.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN, 14 June 2024
That final twist notwithstanding, Murder House was a quality season that used the haunted house as an allegory to tell the story of a family ripped apart by grief and infidelity.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2024
Both parties are being ripped apart by the conflict in the Middle East, with the Tories facing charges of Islamophobia and Labour struggling to distance itself from antisemitism that festered under former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
—Danica Kirka, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 May 2024
The family was ripped apart on Sept. 25, 2017, when Flewellen was involved in a horrific single car accident after dropping her boys off at school.
—Susan Young, Peoplemag, 14 May 2024
Once the chalky fungal plug is ripped apart, the infected and disemboweled cicada flies around, raining down fluffy, brown spores.
—Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 13 May 2024
But, some of them enjoy the nostalgia of their throwback glam — mainly season 5 and All Stars 2 legend Roxxxy Andrews, who gave her sisters three of her old looks to savagely rip apart.
—EW.com, 13 May 2024
Kalamazoo County’s Portage area was hard hit as a FedEx facility was ripped apart and more than a dozen mobile homes were destroyed.
—George Walker Iv, Joey Cappelletti, and Ed White, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 May 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rip apart.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near rip apart
Cite this Entry
“Rip apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rip%20apart. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
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