Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

rip up

British  

verb

  1. to tear (paper) into small pieces

  2. to annul, cancel, or unilaterally disregard

  3. to dig up, dig into, or remove (a surface)

    they are ripping up the street
"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That is forcing vineyard owners from Bordeaux to Australia to rip up vines and leave grapes to rot in the fields.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

The U.S. government has warned it will rip up its agreements with Anthropic if the AI startup fails to reach a deal with the Pentagon, according to the Financial Times.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 27, 2026

Minutes before, Farage told his team he had wanted to rip up the conference schedule and deliver his main speech early, to react to Angela Rayner resigning as deputy prime minister and other roles.

From BBC • Sep. 6, 2025

I got to rip up the chunky gravel Richard Martin trail through Elkmont, where locals served us chicken stew and banana pudding.

From Slate • Aug. 31, 2025

Sometimes we would rip up a section of track and fix it.

From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.