Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

tears

British  
/ tɪəz /

plural noun

  1. the clear salty solution secreted by the lacrimal glands that lubricates and cleanses the surface of the eyeball and inner surface of the eyelids

  2. a state of intense frustration (esp in the phrase bored to tears )

  3. weeping

  4. presented so as to be easily assimilated

    reading without tears
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
tears Idioms  

  1. see bore to death (tears); burst into (tears); crocodile tears. Also see under tear.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Bursting into tears as he ended the final leg of his ride, Greg told fellow Radio 1 host Jack Saunders it had been an "amazing" experience.

From BBC

"I feel so manipulated, and when you are manipulated, you don't realise it from the start," Mette-Marit said in a 20-minute interview in which she was often on the verge of tears.

From BBC

But this year will be different, she says, in tears.

From BBC

And just when you think you can’t possibly have an emotional connection to what you’re watching, a sudden wallop to the gut punches the tears right out of you.

From Salon

Leading a training session at a Wall Street bar ahead of the holiday, he filled two pints—one neat and tidy, the other messier, shedding “Irish tears” of foam down its side.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.