tear down

Definitions

1. 1

   To demolish.

   • They're going to tear down the old shack when they redevelop the land.
   • 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!
2. 2

   To open and disassemble (a device or machine) to inspect, showcase, or refurbish its…

   To 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.
   • 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.
3. 3

   To degrade (someone)

   To 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.
   • 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?
4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      To move at high speed along.

      • She watched the SUV tear down the highway in front of them .
      • He was right: if Joel knew someone was watching, he'd tear down the road with the bike up on just the rear tire.
      • 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.

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