rend
verb (used with object)
to separate into parts with force or violence.
was rending
-
past progressiveof rend.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
She could not well stop the child, but every word was rending her heart.
From East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood
"Bread and the Newspaper," for instance, recalls vividly those sad, terribly earnest days when the civil war was rending not only our land but our hearts.
From Life of Oliver Wendell Holmes by E. E. Brown
Mispoon, with his splendid wings spread half over the carcass of Ahtik, the dead bull, was rending flesh so ravenously with his powerful beak that Neewa and Miki could hear the sound of it.
From Nomads of the North A Story of Romance and Adventure under the Open Stars by James Oliver Curwood
Hermione was not the type of woman who faints in an emergency, though gladly now would she have found in unconsciousness a respite from the bitter pain that was rending her innermost fiber.
From One Wonderful Night A Romance of New York by Louis Tracy
I longed to be off, if only to be free from this feverish anxiety which was rending our very souls.
From Ten Years' Captivity in the Mahdi's Camp 1882-1892 by F. R. Wingate
