tear at

English

Verb

tear at (third-person singular simple present tears at, present participle tearing at, simple past tore at, past participle torn at)

1. To pull at violently.
   • 2021, Michael Farris Smith, chapter 56, in Nick, New York, Boston, London: Little, Brown and Company, page 275:

     When the house was empty she went from room to room. Ripping sheets from beds and tearing at them and kicking over nightstands and busting mirrors.

2. To afflict or aggrieve.

   The situation tore at his heart.

Anagrams

• a treat, atrate, terata