rip

[rip]

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SEE MORE 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.

Idioms

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

1470–80; 1960–65 for def 10; obscurely akin to Frisian rippe, dialectal Dutch rippen; compare dialectal English ripple to scratch

Related formsrip·pa·ble, adjectiveun·rip·pa·ble, adjective

Can be confusedburglarize mug rip off rob steal (see synonym study at rob)

Synonyms for rip

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rip ON THESAURUS.COM

1. See tear². 7. laceration, cut.

rip

[rip]

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

rip

[rip]

noun Informal.

a dissolute or worthless person.

a worthless or worn-out horse.

something of little or no value.

Origin of rip

1770–80; probably alteration of rep, shortened form of reprobate

Rip

[rip]

noun

a male given name, form of Robert.

R.I.P.

or RIP

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. 2019

Related Words for rip

slit, burst, hack, score, split, shred, gash, laceration, rent, slash, cleavage, hole, rive, cleave, rend, lacerate, claw, fray, frazzle

Examples from the Web for rip

Contemporary Examples of rip

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
Those are the roots, the immovable ties blind to ethics probes and corruption charges that are difficult to rip from the ground.
Charlie Rangel Dances On
Gideon Resnick
June 25, 2014
The RIP offers a clear window into the intersection of poverty and vermin.
Crowdsourcing NYC’s War on Rats
Kevin Zawacki
June 24, 2014
If you tear that bond the rip leaves open scars where the glue once was.
Brits Celebrate Phin Lyman, The Boy Virgin Who Says He’ll Wait for Love
Nico Hines
May 19, 2014
Nausea is the next assault, a wave so powerful it threatens to rip out your insides.
Hallucinating Away a Heroin Addiction
Abby Haglage
May 4, 2014

Historical Examples of rip

Jim DID cry, and rip and dance and carry on, he was so thankful and out of his mind for joy.
Tom Sawyer Abroad
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
If she doesn't, the rest of it won't amount to a rip with John Harkless.
The Gentleman From Indiana
Booth Tarkington
What do you want to conwey to your own father, you young Rip?
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
Then I tella hims that he should rip him ups and then I rip me ups--so.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 17, July 23, 1870
Various
If you are wise, you will get it too small for your head, and rip out the lining.
The Forest
Stewart Edward White

British Dictionary definitions for rip

RIP

abbreviation for

requiescat or requiescant in pace

Word Origin for RIP

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

rip

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

Word Origin for rip

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

rip

noun

short for riptide (def. 1)

Word Origin for rip

C18: perhaps from rip 1

rip

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

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

Word Origin and History for rip

"tear apart," c.1400, probably of North Sea Germanic origin (cf. Flemish rippen "strip off roughly," Frisian rippe "to tear, rip") or else from a Scandinavian source (cf. Swedish reppa, Danish rippe "to tear, rip"). In either case, from Proto-Germanic *rupjan-, from PIE root *reup-, *reub- "to snatch." Meaning "to slash open" is from 1570s. Related: Ripped; ripping.

In garments we rip along the line at which they were sewed; we tear the texture of the cloth. ... Rend implies great force or violence. [Century Dictionary]

Meaning "to move with slashing force" (1798) is the sense in let her rip, American English colloquial phrase attested from 1853. The noun is attested from 1711. The parachutist's rip cord (1911) originally was a device in ballooning to open a panel and release air.

n.1

"rough water," 1775, perhaps a special use of rip (v.). Originally of seas; application to rivers is from 1828.

n.2

"thing of little value," 1815, earlier "inferior or worn-out horse" (1778), perhaps altered from slang rep (1747) "man of loose character; vicious, reckless and worthless person," which itself is perhaps short for reprobate (n.).

rip in Science