tear away

British  

/ tɛə /

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to persuade (oneself or someone else) to leave

   I couldn't tear myself away from the television

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noun

1. 1. a reckless impetuous unruly person

   2. ( as modifier )

      a tearaway young man

tear away Idioms  

1. Remove oneself unwillingly or reluctantly, as in I couldn't tear myself away from that painting. [Late 1700s]

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Example Sentences

Historically, warrantless subpoenas under these laws were used as a narrow investigative tool for specific customs and regulatory violations, not as a weapon to tear away the privacy and protected speech of social media users.

From Salon • Mar. 12, 2026

Dressed head to toe in black she looks tough, but she fiddles with her studded choker nervously and wipes a mascara-stained tear away from her cheek.

From BBC • Jan. 25, 2024

After setting up the characters as simply bad or good, “Destiny of Desire” slowly starts to tear away preconceived notions of who these people are and reveals their complexities.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 21, 2023

“We tear away carpets and in almost each room we discover trap doors in the wooden floors, hiding places behind old paneling,” she writes in her preface.

From New York Times • Aug. 25, 2021

It took only one person to tear away the delicate strands of the web, spilling the rays of sun into the sand, and the fragile world would be injured.

From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko