rip

¹

[ rip ]

verb (used with object)

, ripped, rip·ping.

1. to cut or tear apart in a rough or vigorous manner:

   to rip open a seam; to rip up a sheet.

2. to cut or tear away in a rough or vigorous manner:

   to rip bark from a tree.

3. to saw (wood) in the direction of the grain.
4. Digital Technology. to copy (audio or video files from a CD, DVD, or website) to a hard drive or mobile device, typically by extracting the raw data and changing the file format in the process: Compare burn ¹( def 30 ).DAE

   Can you rip this CD for me?

verb (used without object)

, ripped, rip·ping.

1. to become torn apart or split open:

   Cheap cloth rips easily.

2. Informal. to move with violence or great speed:

   The sports car ripped along in a cloud of dust and exhaust fumes.

noun

1. a rent made by ripping; tear.

   Synonyms: cut, laceration

2. Slang. a cheat, swindle, or theft; ripoff:

   The average consumer doesn't realize that the new tax is a rip.

verb phrase

1. Informal. to attack physically or verbally; assail.
2. Informal. to utter angrily, as with an oath or exclamation.
3. Slang.
   1. to steal or pilfer.
   2. to rob or steal from.
   3. to swindle, cheat, or exploit; take advantage of:

      phony charity appeals that rip off a gullible public.

rip

²

[ rip ]

noun

1. a stretch of turbulent water at sea or in a river.

rip

³

[ rip ]

noun

, Informal.

1. a dissolute or worthless person.
2. a worthless or worn-out horse.
3. something of little or no value.

Rip

⁴

[ rip ]

noun

1. a male given name, form of Robert.

RIP

⁵

or R.I.P.

[ ahr-ahy-pee, rip ]

abbreviation for

1. rest in peace:
   1. (used, especially on grave markers and memorials, to wish peace after death upon a deceased person).
   2. Often Facetious. (used to indicate that a person or thing has been destroyed or damaged):

      RIP to my dignity after that awful spin class.

rip

¹

/ rɪp /

noun

1. something or someone of little or no value
2. an old worn-out horse
3. a dissolute character; reprobate

rip

²

/ rɪp /

noun

1. See riptide
   short for riptide

ˈrip

³

/ rɪp /

verb

1. to tear or be torn violently or roughly; split or be rent
2. tr; foll by off or out to remove hastily, carelessly, or roughly

   they ripped out all the old kitchen units

3. informal.
   intr to move violently or precipitously; rush headlong
4. informal.
   intrfoll byinto to pour violent abuse (on); make a verbal attack (on)
5. tr to saw or split (wood) in the direction of the grain
6. informal.
   tr computing to copy (music or software) without permission or making any payment
7. let rip
   let rip to act or speak without restraint

noun

1. the place where something is torn; a tear or split
2. See ripsaw
   short for ripsaw

RIP

⁴

abbreviation for

1. requiescat or requiescant in pace

rip

/ rĭp /

1. A stretch of water in a river, estuary, or tidal channel made rough by waves meeting an opposing current.
2. A rip current.

R.I.P.

1. The abbreviation for “rest in peace,” often found on gravestones or in obituaries. From the Latin , requiescat in pace .

Derived Forms

• ˈrippable, adjective

Other Words From

• rippa·ble adjective
• un·rippa·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rip¹

First recorded in 1400–50; 1960–65 rip ¹fordef 10; Middle English rippen “to tear out (seams, sutures), rip, rip off”; further origin uncertain; obscurely akin to Frisian rippe, Middle Dutch rippen, reppen; compare dialectal English ripple “to scratch”

Origin of rip²

First recorded in 1765–75; rip ¹, ripple ¹

Origin of rip³

First recorded in 1770–80; of uncertain origin; possibly alteration of rep, shortened form of reprobate

Origin of rip⁴

From Latin requiēscat (or requiēscant ) in pāce

Word History and Origins

Origin of rip¹

C18: perhaps altered from rep , shortened from reprobate

Origin of rip²

C18: perhaps from rip ¹

Origin of rip³

C15: perhaps from Flemish rippen ; compare Middle Dutch rippen to pull

Origin of rip⁴

Latin: may he, she, or they rest in peace

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. let rip, Slang.
   1. to utter a series of oaths; swear.
   2. to speak or write violently, rapidly, or at great length.
   3. to allow to proceed at full speed or without restraint.

More idioms and phrases containing rip

• let it rip

Synonym Study

See tear ².

Example Sentences

Her status as a mysterious, cloistered figure had been solidified after a decade of speculation and lionization on Internet message boards and blogs as crate diggers shared rips of her impossibly rare LPs.

From Washington Post

We’d stepped through the front door of our neighborhood library on Capitol Hill when I heard the rip of the Velcro fasteners on his little-boy sneakers.

From Washington Post

The company also has a lifetime warranty for any rips or frays, which is pretty bold given that sheets, like all cloth, inevitably show signs of wear.

From Popular-Science

One of the interview questions asking about vacuum decay was incorrectly presented as being about the big rip scenario.

From Quanta Magazine

The last band I was in was kind of a Sonic Youth rip-off band, and I thought that that was my calling.

From The Daily Beast

Instead of decorating every face on the street, Google Glass hit a contrarian rip tide.

From The Daily Beast

Not that the Shakespearean riff on/rip off is limited to novels.

From The Daily Beast

This is why capitalism, he concludes triumphantly, is “no rip-off.”

From The Daily Beast

Though the good gut bugs are likely beneficial for some, companies are using the label to rip off consumers.

From The Daily Beast

They ain't got such a rip-roarin' start of us—an' I'm the boy can foller that track from hell t' breakfast an' back again.

From Project Gutenberg

Then I tied up the rip in the meal sack with a string, so it wouldn't leak no more, and took it and my saw to the canoe again.

From Project Gutenberg

In a word, he did rip up all that could be said that was unworthy, and in the basest terms they could be spoken in.

From Project Gutenberg

You must read for yourselves the famous story of Rip Van Winkle and the nap he took.

From Project Gutenberg

Buck begun to cry and rip, and 'lowed that him and his cousin Joe (that was the other young chap) would make up for this day yet.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• burst
• hack
• score
• shred
• slit
• split