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tear-off

[ tair-awf, -of ]
/ ˈtɛərˌɔf, -ˌɒf /
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adjective
designed to be easily removed by tearing, usually along a perforated line: a sales letter with a tear-off order blank.
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Origin of tear-off

First recorded in 1885–90; adj., noun use of verb phrase tear off
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tear-off in a sentence

  • The German motto to-day on the tear-off calendar is: "What is to be clarified must first ferment."

    Zones of the Spirit|August Strindberg

British Dictionary definitions for tear-off

tear off
/ (tɛə) /

verb
(tr) to separate by tearing
(intr, adverb) to rush away; hurry
(tr, adverb) to produce in a hurry; do quickly and carelesslyto tear off a letter
tear someone off a strip British informal to reprimand or rebuke someone forcibly
adjective tear-off
(of paper, etc) produced in a roll or block and marked with perforations so that one section at a time can be torn off
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

Other Idioms and Phrases with tear-off

tear off

1

Produce hurriedly and casually, as in He tore off a poem a day for an entire month.

2

Leave in a hurry, as in She tore off to the store because it was about to close. [c. 1900]

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