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tear down

B1 neutral separable transitive
In simple words

To knock a building down, or to say mean things that destroy someone's confidence.

Literal meaning: To pull or rip a structure downward until it falls.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

To demolish or destroy a building or structure.

"The council voted to tear down the old factory and build a park in its place."

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

— Ronald Reagan, speech at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, 1987
Grammar: separable
2 B2 idiomatic informal

To destroy someone's confidence, reputation, or morale through criticism or hostile behaviour.

"A good coach builds players up; a bad one tears them down."

Grammar: separable
3 B2 neutral

To dismantle or take apart a machine or system for inspection or repair.

"The mechanics tore the engine down completely to find the source of the fault."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Common in American English for demolishing buildings. Also widely used figuratively to mean destroying someone's self-esteem, a system, or a set of beliefs. Opposite of 'build up'.

Commonly used with

building wall barrier confidence statue system

Forms

Base
tear down
I/you/we/they
3rd person
tears down
he/she/it
Past simple
tore down
yesterday
Past participle
torn down
have + pp
-ing form
tearing down
continuous

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Synonyms

demolish knock down pull down raze dismantle destroy

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