Rend

/ɹɛnd/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive) To separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to split; to burst..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to split; to burst.
2. (transitive, figurative) To violently disturb the peace of; to throw into chaos.
3. (transitive) To part or tear off forcibly; to take away by force; to amputate.
4. (intransitive) To be rent or torn; to become parted; to separate; to split.
5. A violent separation of parts.

Example Sentences

Powder rends a rock in blasting.

Lightning rends an oak.

If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak / And peg thee in his knotty entrails till / Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters.

a scream that rent the air

We are most vulnerable now to the messages of the new subcults, to the claims and counterclaims that rend the air.

And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

For a time, there reigned, too, a sense of peculiar dread at this flitting apparition, as if it were treacherously beckoning us on and on, in order that the monster might turn round upon us, and rend us at last in the remotest and most savage seas.

Relationships may rend if tempers flare.

Synonyms for rend

Antonyms for rend

Related Words

Word Forms

• rends
• rending
• rent
• rended

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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