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?
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.
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.
rip out to utter angrily, as with an oath or exclamation.
rip off
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 into to attack physically or verbally; assail.
a dissolute or worthless person.
a worthless or worn-out horse.
something of little or no value.
something or someone of little or no value
an old worn-out horse
a dissolute character; reprobate
to tear or be torn violently or roughly; split or be rent
(tr; foll by off or out) to remove hastily, carelessly, or roughly
they ripped out all the old kitchen units
informal (intr) to move violently or precipitously; rush headlong
informal to pour violent abuse (on); make a verbal attack (on)
(tr) to saw or split (wood) in the direction of the grain
informal (tr) computing to copy (music or software) without permission or making any payment
to act or speak without restraint
the place where something is torn; a tear or split
short for ripsaw
A stretch of water in a river, estuary, or tidal channel made rough by waves meeting an opposing current.
A rip current.
See tear 2.
First recorded in 1400–50; 1960–65 rip 1 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”
First recorded in 1765–75; see origin at rip 1, ripple 1
First recorded in 1770–80; of uncertain origin; possibly alteration of rep, shortened form of reprobate
From Latin requiēscat (or requiēscant ) in pāce
When you rip something, you tear it quickly or forcefully. It's almost always better to rip off a Band-Aid than to peel it off slowly. You can rip a piece of paper in half, or rip a hole in the roof of your tent. When you tear, split, or pull something apart, you rip it. You can also rip figuratively — like when your move to a new city rips you apart from your best friend. A rip off is a bad deal or a swindle, a phrase that's been popular since about 1970, although rip meaning "steal" was used as prison slang much earlier.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She said: "I would wake up in the night trying to rip it off my face. I felt suffocated. I've tried every single mask going, but no, it's awful."
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
“We thought we saw a guy stuck in a rip current, so Chris took off down to the water, and I ran right after him,” Yetter told the television station.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
They arrived with rescue dogs, sophisticated listening devices and cutting tools that can rip through concrete.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
As the night wore on and the energy in the stands flatlined, they piled into an empty section in the upper reaches of the right field seats with plans to rip off their shirts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
All of the rumors are virtually unfounded but they rip through the area as they did at Rainy Pass and I leave the checkpoint at dawn to head across the ice with some doubt.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
Irving’s whimsically inventive “Sketch Book” of stories introduced Rip Van Winkle, the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow and other timelessly folkloric figures to an eager readership.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser will reprise their respective roles as Dutton’s volcanic daughter Beth Dutton and her husband, boss ranch hand Rip Wheeler, in Paramount+’s “Dutton Ranch.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2026
A Rip Van Winkle who slept through the last half-century and awoke on Monday, Oct.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2025
Rip up your 2025 diary and take the pages from the first six months and burn them in your fireplace.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2025
I’m like that old man with the beard, Rip Van Winkle.
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
RIP, Sam Neill: The New Zealand actor died unexpectedly today at 78.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026
She wrote: "My Sweet Nicky, thank you for years of laughter, love and Dodgers. I will think of you every time I see a rocking chair. I love you. RIP."
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2026
The protesters, gathered to support Diarra's family, members of whom also took part, unfurled banners reading "Justice" and "RIP", before marching to the local police station.
From Barron's ● Jan. 25, 2026
“I’m all the way in Florida and have never been anywhere near SoCal and even I know how legendary that venue is. RIP to a real one,” lamented another.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2025
I’ve tweeted RIP hashtags, reblogged pictures on Tumblr, and signed every petition out there.
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
If so, there could be no one around to put an R.I.P. on humanity’s gravestone.
From Salon ● Feb. 24, 2024
Current judge Motsi Mabuse posted a black-and-white picture of Goodman on her Instagram story, alongside the letters "R.I.P."
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2023
“Sir Sidney Poitier R.I.P. He showed us how to reach for the stars.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2022
Zealot R.I.P. performs on Sept. 22 at D.C.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 14, 2021
You’d nod and then ask the person on what wall she wanted the R.I.P. and what to paint on it.
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
“It rips out Prop. 103’s good‑driver protections and replaces your actual driving record with a black‑box score built on sweeping data collection,’’ Balber said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
The episode’s signature moment comes in a soliloquy from Gen Z hero Ava Daniels, in which she rips into the idea that A.I. is inevitable and talks about how we can and should fight it.
From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026
"It rips any sense of future that you may feel that you had planned for yourself - all that goes."
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
“It’s like realizing you don’t have the title to your home as the market rips higher, that your purchase was null and void.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Kaila rips the guest check off the pad and hands it back to the barista by the espresso machine.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
The blaze in Le Porge, just south of Medoc wine country, had ripped through 3,100 hectares -- an area four and a half times the size of Gibraltar -- since Wednesday, firefighters said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The blaze ripped through the property in the southern La Victoria district early on Wednesday, Gen Oscar Arriola from the Peruvian National Police told local media.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Sony said Udio ripped off music recordings from YouTube without Sony’s permission to train AI models.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Burns punched the air as a rapturous roar - which ripped across the course - reverberated in his ears.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
I was bolt awake now, sitting up on the bedroom floor, ripped from sleep by a smell from the kitchen.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
In southern France, a fire in the area of Ponteves northeast of the city of Marseille had stabilised on Thursday after ripping through 2,500 hectares and destroying 10 houses, officials said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Views of just one of the wildfires ripping across Ontario, Canada yesterday.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
Our example, upfitted with the Launch Package specification, did just that, ripping away from red lights like a spooked tarpon, and me just hanging on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
All from ripping off Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
There was a mighty tear—Flux ripping the newspaper from O’Doyle’s clenched hands.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
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.
