Rend and Tear

Rend

Rend verb - To cause (something) to separate into jagged pieces by violently pulling at it.
Usage example: the prophecy that the disaster would cause people to rend their garments in mourning

Tear is a synonym for rend in activity topic. In some cases you can use "Tear" instead a verb "Rend", when it comes to topics like action, divide, assemble. popular alternative

Nearby Words: render, rending

Tear

Tear verb - To cause (something) to separate into jagged pieces by violently pulling at it.
Usage example: angrily tore the letter to shreds

Rend is a synonym for tear in activity topic. You can use "Rend" instead a verb "Tear", if it concerns topics such as action, cut, assemble. literary substitute

Nearby Words: tearful, tearing, teary, teardrop, tearless

Common collocations

heart rend heart tear heart
soul rend soul tear soul
man rend man tear man
human rend human tear human
Other words: body, flesh, time, earth, fabric, asunder, planet, foes.

Both words in one sentence

  • Fluffy the Terrible An uncompromising weapon that, in a fit of graceful agony, will rend and tear until there is nothing left.
  • Tabletop Game / Changeling: The Lost Culture-based Ogre Kiths (from Winter Masques) include: Daitya (giants who rend and tear with supernatural ease), Oni (demons who gain power from the blood of the sinful), and Trolls (manipulative brutes).
  • Literature / Micro Swallowed Whole: Most of the predators of the micro world rend, tear, liquefy and destroy - but (usually) not birds and bats.
Cite this Source
Tear and Rend. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/rend/tear
Rend & Tear. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/rend/tear>.
Tear or Rend. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/rend/tear.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "rend" and "tear" have occurred on timeline