rend

American  

[rend] / rɛnd /

verb (used with object)

• rends,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rent,
  past participle,  past
• rending
  present participle

1. to separate into parts with force or violence.

   The storm rent the ship to pieces.

2. to tear apart, split, or divide.

   racial tension that is rending the nation.

   Synonyms:

   rupture, fracture, chop, cleave, sever, sunder, rive

3. to pull or tear violently (often followed by away, off, up, etc.).

4. to tear (one's garments or hair) in grief, rage, etc.

5. to disturb (the air) sharply with loud noise.

6. to harrow or distress (the heart) with painful feelings.

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verb (used without object)

• rends,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rent,
  past participle,  past
• rending
  present participle

1. to split or tear something.

2. to become torn or split.

rend British  

/ rɛnd /

verb

1. to tear with violent force or to be torn in this way; rip

2. (tr) to tear or pull (one's clothes, etc), esp as a manifestation of rage or grief

3. (tr) (of a noise or cry) to disturb (the air, silence, etc) with a shrill or piercing tone

4. (tr) to pain or distress (the heart, conscience, etc)

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Synonym Usage

See tear ².

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• rendible
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• rending
  present
• rent
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• rend
  simple
• rends
  simple
• have rent
  perfect
• has rent
  perfect
• am rending
  progressive
• are rending
  progressive
• is rending
  progressive
• have been rending
  perfect progressive
• has been rending
  perfect progressive

Past

• rent
  simple
• had rent
  perfect
• was rending
  progressive
• were rending
  progressive
• had been rending
  perfect progressive

Future

• will rend
  simple
• will have rent
  perfect
• will be rending
  progressive
• will have been rending
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of rend

First recorded before 950; Middle English renden, Old English rendan; cognate with Old Frisian renda

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Explanation

The verb rend means to tear with force or violence, or into many pieces. Your parents won't be happy if your new kitten decides to rend their brand new curtains with her tiny claws. Tear, rip, and rend are all synonyms, but it's a question of degree. Of the three, rend implies the most violent separation. You can also use rend figuratively to express great emotional distress or to describe a sharp, piercing sound. If you're betrayed by a friend, it rends your heart right out of your chest.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rend rends rent rending

"If global debt resumes its rising rend going forward, the debt rollercoaster since the pandemic will look nothing more than a temporary deviation around its long-term rising trend."

From Reuters ● Sep. 13, 2023

Snook does everything but rend her garments in a performance that only emphasizes the busy vapidity of Hannah Kent’s script.

From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2023

And that remains its role now, as thousands of researchers join forces in a collective mission: to better know SARS-CoV-2 and to rend that virus’s complexities into a blueprint to plan its containment and control.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 10, 2021

Some — the ones that rend your very soul — you find a way to mend.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2020

“Delicate Adonis is dying, Cytherea, what shall we do? Beat your breasts, maidens, and rend your tunics.”

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger

Noted playwright Hudes pens a stunning debut novel that rends conventional notions of motherhood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2025

We find her at a bleak roadside cemetery where her grief rends the air.

From BBC ● May 9, 2023

What’s left behind after a natural disaster so powerful that it rends the foundations of a society?

From Washington Times ● Feb. 10, 2023

As a result, Alisa makes a terrible choice that rends the family forever.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2022

Sudden as the flash that rends the skies, as the bolt that blasts the oak, the truth burst upon me!

From Ellen Middleton—A Tale by Georgiana Fullerton

Mountbatten-Windsor had taken on a 75-year lease for Royal Lodge in 2003 and had paid about £7.5m towards its renovation and other charges, which meant that he did not have to pay rent.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

The companies’ cloud businesses, which rent computing power and storage to other companies, are growing faster than they have in years.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026

Buying a home — or even finding an affordable place to rent — is increasingly out of reach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

Advertisements for a growing number of “digital rip” platforms suggest they can help pay for food, rent, and gas.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

And Cat’s mother, who sat in their yard, teeth gone, cheeks sunken, with no money to pay the rent.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

When I defended the author and the decision to run his op-ed, there was more rending of garments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

But if the first go-rounds last year were tragedy—depressing stocks, spiking prices, and rending hearts in both countries—the latest skirmish is starting to look more like farce.

From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026

The rending of hair and gnashing of teeth has begun.

From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2024

Holley is volcanically self-expressive in his visual art, whether rending tiny wires into human profiles or planning massive statues from uncut granite and gleaming metal.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 10, 2023

Make that rending, not rendering, and it’s one solid word.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

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