Top Definitions
Synonyms
Quizzes
Related Content
Examples
British
Scientific
Cultural
Idioms And Phrases

rip

[ rip ]

/ rɪp /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for rip on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), ripped, rip·ping.

to cut or tear apart in a rough or vigorous manner: to rip open a seam; to rip up a sheet.

to cut or tear away in a rough or vigorous manner: to rip bark from a tree.

to saw (wood) in the direction of the grain.

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: Can you rip this CD for me?Compare burn¹ (def. 29). See also DAE

verb (used without object), ripped, rip·ping.

to become torn apart or split open: Cheap cloth rips easily.

Informal. to move with violence or great speed: The sports car ripped along in a cloud of dust and exhaust fumes.

noun

a rent made by ripping; tear.

Slang. a cheat, swindle, or theft; ripoff: The average consumer doesn't realize that the new tax is a rip.

Verb Phrases

rip into, Informal. to attack physically or verbally; assail.

rip off, Slang.

to steal or pilfer.
to rob or steal from.
to swindle, cheat, or exploit; take advantage of: phony charity appeals that rip off a gullible public.

rip out, Informal. to utter angrily, as with an oath or exclamation.

OTHER WORDS FOR rip

7 laceration, cut.

See synonyms for rip on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

SPRINT TO THE FINISH WITH THIS OLYMPICS QUIZ!

Compete in our Olympics quiz to see if you can take home the gold medal in Olympics knowledge.

Question 1 of 10

Where was the Olympics first held?

ancient Rome

ancient Greece

ancient Persia

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Idioms about rip

let rip, Slang.

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

Origin of rip

First recorded in 1400–50; 1960–65 for def. 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”

synonym study for rip

1. See tear².

OTHER WORDS FROM rip

rip·pa·ble, adjectiveun·rip·pa·ble, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH rip

burglarize, mug, rip off , rob, steal

Words nearby rip

riot gun, riotous, riotous living, riot shield, riot squad, rip, riparian, riparian right, rip cord, rip current, ripe

Other definitions for rip (2 of 5)

rip²

[ rip ]

/ rɪp /

noun

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

Origin of rip

First recorded in 1765–75; see origin at rip¹, ripple¹

Other definitions for rip (3 of 5)

rip³

[ rip ]

/ rɪp /

noun Informal.

a dissolute or worthless person.

a worthless or worn-out horse.

something of little or no value.

Origin of rip

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

Other definitions for rip (4 of 5)

Rip

[ rip ]

/ rɪp /

noun

a male given name, form of Robert.

Other definitions for rip (5 of 5)

R.I.P.

or RIP

abbreviation

may he or she (or they) rest in peace.

Origin of R.I.P.

<Latin requiēscat (or requiēscant) in pāce

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use rip in a sentence

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.
Pauline Anna Strom’s posthumous album cements her legacy as an electronic music visionary|Jonathan Williger|February 19, 2021|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.
All this security in D.C. to thwart terrorism, yet the threat came from within|Petula Dvorak|January 11, 2021|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.
Home and office products that make sure-fire gifts|PopSci Commerce Team|October 8, 2020|Popular-Science
One of the interview questions asking about vacuum decay was incorrectly presented as being about the big rip scenario.
This Cosmologist Knows How It’s All Going to End|Dan Falk|June 22, 2020|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.
Deer Tick's John McCauley on Ten Years in Rock and Roll|James Joiner|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Instead of decorating every face on the street, Google Glass hit a contrarian rip tide.
You Were Wrong About Miley & Bitcoin: 2014’s Failed Predictions|Nina Strochlic|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Not that the Shakespearean riff on/rip off is limited to novels.
Book Bag: 5 Novels Shakespeare Sort of Wrote|Lois Leveen|October 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This is why capitalism, he concludes triumphantly, is “no rip-off.”
In Dinesh D’Souza’s ‘America,’ Slavery Wasn’t So Bad, but Hillary and Barack Are Socialist Devils|Andrew Romano|June 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Though the good gut bugs are likely beneficial for some, companies are using the label to rip off consumers.
Your Probiotic Is Probably B.S.|Carrie Arnold|June 25, 2014|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.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
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.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
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.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete|Samuel Pepys
You must read for yourselves the famous story of Rip Van Winkle and the nap he took.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878|Various
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.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

British Dictionary definitions for rip (1 of 4)

rip¹

/ (rɪp) /

verb rips, ripping or ripped

to tear or be torn violently or roughly; split or be rent

(tr ; foll by off or out) to remove hastily, carelessly, or roughlythey ripped out all the old kitchen units

(intr) informal to move violently or precipitously; rush headlong

(intr foll by into) informal to pour violent abuse (on); make a verbal attack (on)

(tr) to saw or split (wood) in the direction of the grain

(tr) informal computing to copy (music or software) without permission or making any payment

let rip to act or speak without restraint

noun

the place where something is torn; a tear or split

short for ripsaw

Derived forms of rip

rippable, adjective

Word Origin for rip

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

British Dictionary definitions for rip (2 of 4)

rip²

/ (rɪp) /

noun

short for riptide (def. 1)

Word Origin for rip

C18: perhaps from rip 1

British Dictionary definitions for rip (3 of 4)

rip³

/ (rɪp) /

noun informal, archaic

something or someone of little or no value

an old worn-out horse

a dissolute character; reprobate

Word Origin for rip

C18: perhaps altered from rep, shortened from reprobate

British Dictionary definitions for rip (4 of 4)

RIP

abbreviation for

requiescat or requiescant in pace

Word Origin for RIP

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

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

Scientific definitions for rip

rip

[ rĭp ]

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

A rip current.

Cultural definitions for rip

R.I.P.

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with rip

rip

In addition to the idioms beginning with rip

ripe old age
rip into
rip off

also see:

let it rip

rip

OTHER WORDS FOR rip

Idioms about rip

Origin of rip

synonym study for rip

OTHER WORDS FROM rip

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH rip

Words nearby rip

Other definitions for rip (2 of 5)

Origin of rip

Other definitions for rip (3 of 5)

Origin of rip

Other definitions for rip (4 of 5)

Other definitions for rip (5 of 5)

or RIP

Origin of R.I.P.

Words related to rip

How to use rip in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for rip (1 of 4)

Derived forms of rip

Word Origin for rip

British Dictionary definitions for rip (2 of 4)

Word Origin for rip

British Dictionary definitions for rip (3 of 4)

Word Origin for rip

British Dictionary definitions for rip (4 of 4)

Word Origin for RIP

Scientific definitions for rip

Cultural definitions for rip

Other Idioms and Phrases with rip