tear 
move noisily and with vigorous haste or eager- 
ness; move and act with turlmlrnt violence; 
li. nee, to rave ; rant; bluster; rage; rush vio- 
lentlv or noisily: as, to trar out of the house. 
[Colloq.] 
And now two smaller Cratchlts, boy and girl, came tear- 
in:! in. Dickens, <'hritmas I'arol. III. 
Aunt 1 ni, she's ben bilin' up no end o' doughnuts, 
an' teariri round 'iiongh to drive the house out o' the 
winders, to git everything ready for ye. 
U. B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. b2!>. 
6207 
tear-duct (ter'dukt), n. The lacrymal or nasal 
ilnc-t, which curries off tears from the eye to the. 
DOM. See cut Milder lilrri/lllill. 
tearer 1 (tilr' IT), n. [< tear 1 + -<fl.] 1. One 
who or that which tears or rends anything. 
2. A person or thing that blusters or rave-: a 
violent person : something big, raging, violent, 
or the like. [Slang.] 
tearer- (tor'cr). . See l,,i-ir. 
tear-falling (ter'fa'ling), a. Shedding tears: 
given to tender emotion; tender. [Rare.] 
teaser 
2. Falling in drops like tenr-. 
Hut whan the stortnes and the leary shoure 
Of tli I w -|iin^ w;is SMiiiK -M ti:it ollrl irolie, 
Tin- Mil! corps wasgruiKii vndi-r nlonc. 
'- 1 , Story of Thebes, HL 
tea-scent (lr'n<-nt). . A Kuropean fern, Ne- 
tear 1 (tar), n. [< tear 1 , t\] 1. A rent; a fis- 
sure. 2. A turbulent motion, as of water. 
3. A spree. [Slang.] Tear and wear, deteriora- 
tion by long or frequent use. Compare wear and tear, 
under war, n, 
tear- (ter), n. [< MK. ti-i-i; li'i; h-n; Inn; < AS. 
ti-iii; lii't; contr. of "tuliiii; "ti'iiliin; t;chher = 
OFries. t<ir= O1IG. -11/1111; uliliin; MUG. ::nln'i- 
("zar.her) (pi. nihere), zar, G. zahre = Icel. tar 
= Sw. Mr= Dan. tttar, tan re = ( loth. ln<i>- = Gr. 
diiKpn, OOKOVOV (also, with additional suffix, <M- 
Kfivnn = OIj. "ditrruiHd, dncrima, liirriniii, later 
erroneously lachrima, lachryma (> It. lai/rimn 
= Sj>. /<i</i-iiiiii = Pg. lagrtma = F. itirme), = 
Oli. dacr, der, a tear; usually referred, as being 
'bitter' (causing tho eyes to smart), to -y/ dak 
(Gr. iaicvciv), Skt. V nay, bite (so Skt. JTM, 
tear, to / ay, be sharp: see acute, edge).'} 1. 
A drop or small quantity of the limpid fluid 
secreted by the lacrymal gland, appearing in 
the eye or falling from it ; in tho plural, the 
peculiar secretion of the lacrymal gland, serv- 
ing to moisten the front of the eyeball and in- 
ner surfaces of the eyelids, and on occasion to 
wash out the eye or free it from specks of dirt, 
dust, or other irritating substances. Tears, like 
saliva, are continually secreted in a certain quantity, 
which is speedily and copiously increased when the ac- 
tivity of the gland Is excited either by mechanical stimu- 
lation or by mental emotion. Any passion, tender or vio- 
lent, as joy, anger, etc., and especially pain or grief, may 
excite the flow of tears, which is also immediately pro- 
voked by pain, especially in the eye itself. The tears or- 
dinarily flow unperceived through the lacrymal canal or 
nasal duct into the nose; when the supply is too copious 
they overflow the lids and trickle down the cheek. Tears 
consist of slightly saline water, having an alkaline reac- 
tion. 
Sche whassched his Feet with hire Teres, and wyped 
hem with hire Heer. MandenUe, Travels, p. 97. 
The big round tears 
Coursed one another down his innocent nose 
In piteous chase. Shak., As you Like it, U. 1. 88. 
Hence 2. pi. Figuratively, grief ; sorrow. 
They that sow in tears shall reap in Joy. Pa, cxxvl. 5. 
3. Something like a tear-drop, (a) A drop of fluid: 
as, tears of blood. (6) A solid transparent tear shaped drop 
or small quantity of something : as, tears of amber, bal- 
sam, or resin : specifically said of the exudation of certain 
juices of trees. 
Let Araby extol her happy coast, 
Her fragrant flow'rs, her trees with precious tears. 
Dryden. 
Myrrh consists of rather irregular lumps or tears ot vary- 
ing size, from that of a hen's egg down. 
Buck's Handbook of Med. Sciences, V. 97. 
4. In glass-mamif., a defect, of occasional oc- 
currence, consisting of a tit of clay from the 
roof or glass-pot partially vitrified in the glass. 
Such tears sometimes cause a glass object to 
fly to pieces without apparent cause Crocodile 
tears. See crocodile. Glass tear, (o) Same as detonat- 
ing bulb (which see, under detonating). (M In the making 
of ornamental glass, a pear-shaped drop of colored glass 
applied for ornament. In tears, weeping. 
See, she Is in tears. Sheridan, School for Scandal, v. 2. 
Job's tears, (o) A name given in New Mexico and Ari- 
zona to grains of olivln, peridot, or chrysolite, suggested by 
their pitted tear like appearance. (6) See Coir. Juno's 
tears. SeeJuna't-te are. St. Lawrence's tear, one of the 
meteors called the I'erseida, especially one appearing on 
the eve of St. Lawrence (August S)th). Tears Of mastic, 
the hardened drops of exuded gum from J'istacia I^entis- 
cus. Tears of St. Peter, a West Indian acanthaceous 
plant, Anthacanthus microphyllus.'Ieaxt Of Strong 
wine, a name sometimes given to a phenomenon involv- 
ing capillary action, and explained by the high snrfaco- 
tensionof water as compared with alcohol. It is observed, 
for instance, that when a wine-glass partially filled with 
jxirt wine is allowed to stand, the alcohol evaporates more 
rapidly than the water present with It; hence the latter 
tends to increase in proportion, and because of Its higher 
surface-tension creeps up on the surface of the glass, drag- 
ging the other liquid with it, till drops are formed which 
,, ] To fill or be- 
sprinkle with or as with tears. [Bare.] 
The lorn lily teared with dew. 
The Century, XXXVII. 54S. 
tear-bag ( t ei-'bag). H. The tear-pit or larmier. 
tear-drop (tSr'drop), n. A tear. 
A teardrop trembled from its source. 
Tmny*m, Talking Oak. 
Uch III., iv. 2. e. 
tearful (tcr'ful), a. [< tear* + -ful.~\ 1. Full of 
tears; shedding tears ; weeping; mourning. 
With tear/ul eyes add water to the n*. 
SAo*.,3Hen. VI., T. 4. 8. 
2. Giving occasion for tears ; mournful ; mel- 
ancholy. 
Then the war was tear/ul to our foe, 
But now to me. Chapman, Iliad, xix. 816. 
tearfully (ter'ful-i), adv. In a tearful manner; 
with tears, 
tearfulness (ter'f ul-nes), n. The state of being 
tearful. 
tear-gland (ter'gland), n. The lacrymal gland, 
tearing (tar'ing), n.o. [Ppr.of tear 1 ,?.] Great; 
rushing; tremendous; towering; ranting: as, 
a tearing passion ; at a tearimj pace. Also used 
adverbially. [Colloq.] 
This bull, that ran tearing mad for the pinching of a 
mouse. Sir K. L'Kstrange. 
Though you do get on at a tearing rate, yet yon get on 
but uneasily to yourself at the same time. 
Stenu , Tristram Shandy, vIL 19. 
Immense dandles, . . . driving in tearing cabs. 
Thackeray, V anlty Fair, Ix. 
tearing-machine (tar'iiig-ma-shen')- n. A rag- 
making machine for cutting up or tearing to 
pieces fabrics to make stock or fiber for re- 
working; a rag-mill or devil. In the usual form, 
It consists of a pair of feeding-rollers which bring the 
material within the action of a cylinder set with sharp 
teeth, which disintegrates the fabric and delivers the re- 
sulting fiber into a receptacle. 
tearless (ter'les), a. [< tear'* -r- -less."] Shedding 
no tears; dry, as the eyes; hence, unfeeling; 
unkind ; without emotion. 
I ask not each kind soul to keep 
Tearless, when of my death he hears. 
M. Arnold, A Wish. 
tear-moutht (tar'mouth), M. [< tear 1 , v., + 
mouth.'] A ranter ; especially, a ranting player. 
You grow rich, do yon, and purchase, you two-penny 
tear-moutht B. Jonson, Poetaster, Hi. 1. 
tea-room (te'rom), n. A room where tea is 
served. 
Stop in the tearoom. Take your slxpenn'orth. They 
lay on hot water, and call It tea. Diekens, Pickwick, xxxv. 
tea-rose (te'roz), . See rose 1 . 
tear-pit (ter'pit),n. The so-called lacrymal or 
suborbital sinus of some animals, as deer; the 
larmier. 
tear-pump (ter'pump), . The source of tears 
as shed effusively in feigned emotion. [Humor- 
ous slang.] 
tear-sac (ter'sak), n. The tear-bag, tear-pit, 
or larmier. 
tear-shaped (ter'shapt), a. Having the form 
of a drop of water about to fall from some- 
thing; drop-shaped; guttiform; piriform. 
tear-stained (ter'stand), a. Marked with tears ; 
showing traces of tears or of weeping. 
Ill prepare 
My tearstain'd eyes to see her miseries. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., ii. 4. 16. 
tear-throatt (tar'throt), a. [< tear 1 , v., + obj. 
throat.'] Kasping; irritating. [Rare.] 
Cramp, cataracts, the tmrf-thmit cough and tislck. 
John Taylor, Works (1830). (Kara.) 
tear-thumb (tar'thum), B. [< tear 1 , >., + obj. 
tli iimb.'] The name of two American (and 
Asiatic) species of Polygonum P. arifolium, 
the halberd-leaved, and P. sagittata, the arrow- 
leaved tear-thumb : so called from the hooked 
prickles on the angles of the stem and the peti- 
oles, by which the plants are partly supported. 
tear-up (tar'up), n. [< tear up: see tear 1 , v.] 
An uprooting; a violent removal. 
teary (ter'i), a. [< ME. tery, < AS. tedrig, < 
ti'iir. tear: see tear 2 and -yl.] 1. Full of tears; 
wet with tears ; tearful. 
Whan she hym sangh she gan for sorwe anon 
litre terti face atwixe hire armes hyde. 
Chaucer, Troilus, Iv. 822. 
All kin' o' smily roun' the lips 
An' trarii roun' the lashes. 
Lowell, The Courtln'. 
tea-8Cmb (te'skrub), n. \ New Xealand shrub, 
/:>lltllK/H rilllllll Sfti/iin'illlli. See ti-il-lfii, -. 
The river Street found it way to tbt- sea In long reaches, 
which were wallwl In. to tin- v,-ry waters edge, by what 
Is called In the colony tratcrub a shrub not very unlike 
the tamarisk. //. Kiiujtlry, Hillyars and Burtons, xxt. 
tease (tr-z). 9, >. : pi. t. and pp. traxid. ]>pr. trtix- 
inii. [Formerly also trn;i; t-i:n, also dial, lose; 
< MK. 'irxni. iinxni, tat/sen, alsu /,w/,. innnen, 
< AS. t&Min, "tdgan, pull, pluck, lease (wool), 
= MD. teesen, D. teesen = LG. tanen, town, pull. 
drag, = MHG. zeigen, G. dial. (Bav.) zaisen = 
Dan. tame, tee/me, tease (wool) ; cf. Icel. tseta, 
$luck, tease (wool) (see tatc). Cf. tonne, tousle.] 
. To pull apart or separate the adhering fibers 
of, as a bit of tissue or a specimen for micro- 
scopical examination ; pick or tear into its sep- 
arate fibers; comb or card, as wool or flax. 
Coarse complexions 
And cheeks of sorry grain will serve to ply 
The sampler, and to tra*e the huswife's wool. 
Milton, Comus, 1. 761. 
In leaned preparations small collections of granular 
matter were, however, sometimes seen at the external 
openings of these bodies. 
E. A. Andrew*, Anat. of Sipunculus Oouldll I'ourtales 
[(Studies from the Biol. Laboratory, IV. 394)i 
Knot the lilling, teate the ends of the nettles out a bit 
Lvce, Seamanship, p. 56. 
2. To dress, as cloth, by means of teazels. 3. 
To vex, annoy, disturb, or irritate by petty re- 
quests, by silly trifling, or by jests and raillery ; 
plague with questions, importunity, insinua- 
tions, raillery, or the like. 
Ton remember how Impertinently hefollow'd and teized 
us, and wou'd know who we were. 
Steele, Conscious Lovers, i. 1. 
If yon are so often leaned to shut the door that you can- 
not easily forget It, then give the door such a clap as yon 
go out as will shake the whole room. 
Sw\fl, Advice to Servants (General Directions). 
Don't tease me, master broker ; I tell you I'll not part 
with it, and there 's an end of It. 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, Iv. 1. 
= Syn. 3. Tease, Vex, Annoy, Molest. Badger, Petter, 
finther, Worry, Plague, Torment. All these words either 
may or must refer to repeated acts ; they all suggest men- 
tal pain, but of degrees varying with the word or with the 
circumstances ; all except badger and molest may be used 
reflexively, but with different degrees of appropriateness, 
vex, worry, and turmnit being the most common in such 
use ; the agent may be a person, or, except with badger. 
it may be a creature, events, circumstances, etc. ; it would 
be clearly figurative to use tease when the agent is not a 
person ; all except tease are always used seriously. Tease 
is not a strong word, but has considerable breadth of use : 
a child may team' his mother for what he desires ; there 
Is a great deal of good-humored teasing of friends about 
their matrimonial intentions; a fly mayfrageadoghy con- 
tinually waking him up. Vex is stronger, literally implying 
anger and figuratively applying to repeated attacks, etc., 
such as would produce an excitement as strong as anger. 
In Shakspere's "atlll-vex'd Bermoothes" (Tempest, I. -.'. 
229), the use of vex is somewhat poetic or archaic, as is 
the application of the word to the continued agitation 
of the sea. Annoy has a middle degree of strength be- 
tween tease and vex; a feeling of annoyance is somewhat 
short of vexation. We may be annoyed by the persistence 
of files, beggars, duns, suitors, picket-firing, etc. Molext 
is generally a stronger word in its expression of harm done 
or intended, Including the sense of disturbing once or 
often : some wild animals will not molest those who do 
not molest them. The next four words have a homely 
force badger being founded upon the baiting of a badger 
by dogs, and thus implying persistence, energy, and some 
rudeness ; pester implying similar persistence and much 
small vexation ; bother Implying weariness and perhaps 
confusion of the mind ; ami trorry implying actual fatigue 
and even exhaustion. Flayue and torment are very strong 
by the figurative extension of their primary meaning, al- 
though they are often used by hyperbole for that which is 
intolerable only by constant return : as, a tormenting fly. 
See exasperate and harass. 
tease (tez), n. [Formerly also teaze, teize; < 
tease, r.] 1. The act of teasing, or the state 
of being teased. 2. One who or that which 
teases; a plague. [Colloq.] To be upon the 
tease, to be uneasy or fidgety. 
Mrs. Sago. So not a Word to me; are these his Vows? 
(In an uneasy Air.) 
/.. Lucti. There '* one upon the Tew already. (Aside.) 
Mrs. Centlicre, Basset-Table, ill. 
teasel, n. and r. See teazel. 
teaseler, n. See teaseler. 
teaser (te'zer), n. [Formerly also leader; < tease 
+ -er 1 .] 1. One who or tha't which teases: as, 
a teaser of oakum. 2. The stoker or fireman in 
glassworks who attends the furnace. 3f. A 
dog used in hunting deer. 
The lofty frolic bucks, 
That scudded 'fore the teasers like the wind. 
Ureene, Friar Bacon and Friar Bnngay. 
