rend
to separate into parts with force or violence: The storm rent the ship to pieces.
to tear apart, split, or divide: racial tension that is rending the nation.
to pull or tear violently (often followed by away, off, up, etc.).
to tear (one's garments or hair) in grief, rage, etc.
to disturb (the air) sharply with loud noise.
to harrow or distress (the heart) with painful feelings.
to split or tear something.
to become torn or split.
Origin of rend
1synonym study For rend
Other words for rend
Other words from rend
- rend·i·ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use rend in a sentence
But the slave had his moments alone, when the agony tore at his breast and rended him.
The Strength of Gideon and Other Stories | Paul Laurence DunbarNone but a fiendish slaveholder could have rended an honest Christian heart in such a manner as this.
The Story of Mattie J. Jackson | L. S. ThompsonAnd then the timber crashed against the flimsy door; the rended boards flew across the room; the sod walls trembled to the shock.
When the West Was Young | Frederick R. BechdoltNo lightning flash ever rended forest king from crest to root quicker than the transformation which now overspread the earth.
If they could have caught him they would have rended him limb from limb, so violent was their rage.
The Story of John Paul Jones | Chelsea Curtis Fraser
British Dictionary definitions for rend
/ (rɛnd) /
to tear with violent force or to be torn in this way; rip
(tr) to tear or pull (one's clothes, etc), esp as a manifestation of rage or grief
(tr) (of a noise or cry) to disturb (the air, silence, etc) with a shrill or piercing tone
(tr) to pain or distress (the heart, conscience, etc)
Origin of rend
1Derived forms of rend
- rendible, adjective
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
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