English · Word Candidate

tearing

/ˈtɛə.ɹɪŋ/

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: tearings

Sense 1

Meaning · English

enormous; of great size or impact

AdjectiveRegister: colloquial

a tearing great giant of a man

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Meaning · English

very hasty

AdjectiveRegister: colloquial

a tearing hurry

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Meaning · English

The act by which something is torn; a laceration.

Noun

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Meaning · English

Distortion of an animated display when the contents of the framebuffer are rendered while it contains portions of two or more frames.

Noun

Even in this case, tearing still results if the swap occurs in the middle of a refresh cycle.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

What does “tearing” mean?

enormous; of great size or impact

Is “tearing” formal or informal?

tearing is generally colloquial.