TEAR INTO

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tear into mean? 

• TEAR INTO (verb)
  The verb TEAR INTO has 1 sense:

1. hit violently, as in an attack

  Familiarity information: TEAR INTO used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TEAR INTO (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hit violently, as in an attack

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

lace into; lam into; lay into; pitch into; tear into

Hypernyms (to "tear into" is one way to...):

hit (deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The fighter managed to tear into his opponent

 Context examples 

If you clash with your partner, you need to deliberately hold yourself back a bit and not tear into this person, for it will not help your case.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Suffice it to observe, that it was a masterpiece of eloquence; and that those passages in which he more particularly traced his own successful career to its source, and warned the younger portion of his auditory from the shoals of ever incurring pecuniary liabilities which they were unable to liquidate, brought a tear into the manliest eye present.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)