tear down

present singular third person tears down · participle present tearing down · past tore down · participle past torn down

1. transitiveTo demolish.

   They're going to tear down the old shack when they redevelop the land.

   3 more examples

   If any building within the fire limits of the city of Pendleton shall be so damaged by fire, by the elements, or from any other cause, that the same shall become and be untenantable and unsafe, the common council shall have power to tear down and remove the same as hereinafter provided, and to prevent the repair thereof.

   1899, Laws of the State of Oregon, page 738

   General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

   1987 June 12, Ronald Reagan, Berlin Wall Speech

   It's a world away from the dank and uninviting St Pancras that British Rail wanted to tear down in the 1960s.

   2022 November 30, Nick Brodrick, “Pride and innovation shine at St Pancras”, in RAIL, number 971, page 69

2. transitiveTo open and disassemble (a device or machine) to inspect, showcase, or refurbish its components.

   Top Fuel dragsters are sort of like fighter planes in the respect that the frequency with which their engines have to be torn down and rebuilt would be insanely unaffordable in any other context.

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   The crew tore down the whole engine and reassembled it under the constant observation of an Allison inspector with Army inspectors continually checking the work.

   1943, “Manufacturing Simplification”, in Western Aviation, Missiles, and Space, volume 23, page 200

   If the part can not be replaced through repair, it must be obtained through an external source. Two external sources include buying the part from a vendor or buying a machine to tear down and obtain the required part plus parts that might be needed in the future.

   1989, Laura E. DeNardis, A Parts Repair and Procurement Decision System, page 85

   While waiting for the parts to arrive, they tore down the engine and began grinding the valves, which was done by hand in those days .

   2011, Keith Earnest Anderson, The Last of the Pioneers, page 182

3. figurativelytransitiveTo degrade (someone): to discredit or criticize.

   If all you can offer is to tear down the efforts of all but the most precociously talented students, then maybe you're not cut out to be a primary school art teacher.

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   I would want to have more grounds for my suspiciou than I have ever heard one of those men express before I would come out and condemn him and tear down his character in the way I have heard those men in District 15 tear down the character of our officers.

   1909, Proceedings of the Thirteenth Biennial Convention of the International Association of Machinists, page 37

   If the aim of metaphysics is merely to criticize and to tear down, once every theory has been criticized and torn down, what is there left to do?

   1999, Jorge J. E. Gracia, Metaphysics and Its Task, page 120

   At times, this book can be critical of some attempts to bring policy knowledge to the forefront of public service, but my underlying goal is not to tear down their efforts, but rather to join them, and bring a contextually sophisticated approach that better places policy knowledge within the decision making environment.

   2020, Steven Putansu, Politics and Policy Knowledge in Federal Education, page x

4. To move at high speed along.

   She watched the SUV tear down the highway in front of them .

   2014, Kevin O'Brien, The Last Victim

   2 more examples

   He was right: if Joel knew someone was watching, he'd tear down the road with the bike up on just the rear tire.

   2017, Quentin Casey, The Sea Was in Their Blood

   But with the speed I'd built, the plane's forward momentum didn't stop and I tore down the lake and closed in on the big forest.

   2020, Tom Stewart, Under Big-Hearted Skies