on a tear

/ɒn ə ˈtɛə(ɹ)/

prepositional phrase

Engaged in a continuous, fast-paced procession of actions or events, especially with favorable results.

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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. idiomaticEngaged in a continuous, fast-paced procession of actions or events, especially with favorable results.

    [T]he market has been on a tear for more than six years and continues to trade near record highs.

    2015 July 9, William D. Cohan, “The Bumbling, Irrelevant New York Stock Exchange”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Aug 2015
    2 more examples

    [T]he team was on a tear, having laid waste to three early round tournament opponents by a total victory margin of 82 points.

    1981 April 13, “Sport: Raging Bull of Basketball”, in Time, retrieved 28 Aug 2015

    To say he went on a tear after turning professional would be an understatement. He went fourteen fights without tasting defeat.

    2014 November 7, Dan Hardy, “Michael Bisping analysis”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 28 Aug 2015
  2. idiomaticIn or into a protracted state of agitation, fury, or zeal.

    Congress has been hopping mad and the U.N.-haters have been on a tear.

    2001 May 29, Thomas L. Friedman, “Foreign Affairs: 95 to 5”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Aug 2015
    1 more example

    [W]hen the gay activist and playwright Larry Kramer goes on a tear, when he really lays into somebody about being politically lazy or not wearing a condom,. . . [y]ou hear rage.

    2012 September 27, Wesley Morris, “‘How to Survive a Plague’ looks back at AIDS activism’s power”, in Boston Globe, retrieved 28 Aug 2015
  3. idiomaticBinge drinking; engaged in a bout of heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages; on a bender.

    That Kelly, when he goes on a tear, he don't wait for the bars to open.

    1998, Dana Stabenow, Fire and Ice, page 77
    1 more example

    The man I want to tell you about, the one I met at the bar at Jimmy's Steak House, was on a tear. Hardly surprising, since this was a bar, after all, and what do people do at bars except drink, and one drink leads to another -- and if you're in a certain frame of mind, I suppose, you don't stop for a day or two or maybe more.

    2013, T. C. Boyle, T.C. Boyle Stories II: The Collected Stories of T. Coraghessan Boyle, →ISBN

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
on fire
Cite this entry
APA

on a tear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20a%20tear

MLA

“on a tear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20a%20tear. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on a tear,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20a%20tear.

Source: on a tear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.