rip apart

rip (someone or something) apart

1. Literally, to tear someone or something into several pieces. The dog got ahold of my report and ripped it apart! I know there's a stereotype that sharks will rip swimmers apart the moment they have the chance, but this is simply not true.
2. To cause great damage, disorder, or ruin to someone or something. Enjoy the tranquility and order of your house now because soon, your kids will start ripping the place apart. Sarah's very first opponent in amateur boxing ripped her apart, but that's how it goes for most novice fighters.
3. To criticize, upbraid, or condemn someone or something severely or thoroughly. A: "Have you heard anything about this movie we're about to see?" B: "Well, one reviewer ripped it apart, but I still think it's going to be great." I hear John's bosses ripped him apart at his annual performance review.
See also: apart, rip
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

rip someone or something apart

to tear someone or something apart into pieces. The automobile accident ripped the car apart. Don't rip apart the newspaper!
See also: apart, rip
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

rip somebody/something aˈpart/to ˈshreds, ˈbits, etc.

destroy something; criticize somebody/something very strongly: Can you believe it? I spent all that time preparing my report, only to have it ripped to shreds! OPPOSITE: praise somebody/something to the skies
See also: apart, rip, somebody, something
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • rip (someone or something) apart
  • rip somebody/something apart/to shreds, bits, etc.
  • ripping
  • rip (someone or something) to bits
  • rip (someone or something) to pieces
  • rip to
  • (a)hold of (someone or something)
  • ahold
  • have (a)hold of (someone or something)
  • hold of
References in periodicals archive
Summary: Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], July 6 (ANI): Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap has threatened to "rip apart" those spreading rumours on a "rift" between him and brother Tejashwi while likening himself to Lord Krishna and his brother to Arjun from Mahabharata.
Tej Pratap denies rift with brother Tejashwi, threatens to 'rip apart' those spreading rumours
Yet on Sunday we had the spectacle of Michael Gove opining that calling for a second referendum would "rip apart the social fabric of the UK".
Heal divisions with a second referendum
A cold, emotionless serial killer is on the loose, someone who kills cleanly and without a trace; a killer who has the potential to rip apart Riggio's family--and leave her dreams in shreds.
Erica Spindler Breakneck
It has no problem showing the Daily Mass program or Food For Life and then airing a documentary on Wicca or a talk-show that would rip apart the Catholic Church right after.
Salt and Light TV
The brink of war, and an earthquake that kills 22,000 people rip apart any remaining semblance of an ordinary vacation in this fast-paced, nation-spanning saga offering a fascinating glimpse into changing cultural norms of the near future, in both the US and its steadily growing Latino population, and in South America.
WMD Machete
Salman Rushdie once said in an interview that for him tradition had never functioned as a straitjacket: "tradition was something to rip apart and trample on." To a satirist nothing can be off limits, and Rushdie did not deserve the threat to his life, but the most bracing blasphemies are the best informed; they start from profoundly within a tradition and are the fruits of disappointed love.
Editorial
The galaxies are full of violent explosions that rip apart stars and hurl clouds of gas in all directions.
Dead star exploding
The article "Brutal Bubbles: Collapsing orbs rip apart atoms" (SN: 3/5/05, p.
On the bubbles
People in this country are allowed to torture and rip apart foxes, but forcing dogs to kill each other has been banned for some time.
Fox-hunting embarrassing
"After an editorial conference call, a team of editors and artists stayed late on Christmas Eve to rip apart some previously written stories to be as current as possible," says Sonja Hillgren of Farm Journal Media.
Ag media covers all the bases of BSE crisis
Only Labour could be misguided enough to want to rip apart our present system of local govern-ment - which works - and replace it with a new layer of bur eaucracy costing the taxpayer millions.
Letter: Knock-out!
But just as expanding ice beneath a road can cause the road to crack, ice forming in tissue can rip apart cells and blood vessels.
Life on ice: extreme cold is both a killer and lifesaver. Learn how scientists are tapping its powers to preserve body organs--and corpses. (Life Science: temperature scale * cryogenics)
It's a traditional lad's pad' - which she proceeds to rip apart.
TV review: House doctor's terminal diagnosis on lad's pad
They can tear up trees, rip apart houses, and turn over cars.
Twisters! (Geography Smart)
Colin Woodward, 44, says he would rather rip apart The Old Brewery, in Hunwick, Durham, than sell it for pounds 100,000 less than its value.
Divorce row builder: I will bulldoze home