• Rend

    Pronunciation

    • Rhymes: -É›nd

    Origin

    From Middle English renden, from Old English rendan ("to rend, tear, cut, lacerate, cut down"), from Proto-Germanic *hrandijaną ("to tear"), of uncertain origin. Believed by some to be the causitive of Proto-Germanic *hrindaną ("to push"), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱret-, *kret- ("to hit, beat"), in which case would relate it to Old English hrindan ("to thrust, push"). Cognate with Scots rent ("to rend, tear"), Old Frisian renda ("to tear").

    Full definition of rend

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to tear asunder; to split; to burstPowder rends a rock in blasting.Lightning rends an oak.
      • 1610, , by William Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak
        And peg thee in his knotty entrails till
        Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters.
      • 1970, Alvin Toffler, Future Shock, Bantam Books, pg. 317:We are most vulnerable now to the messages of the new subcults, to the claims and counterclaims that rend the air.
    2. (transitive) To part or tear off forcibly; to take away by force.
    3. (intransitive) To be rent or torn; to become parted; to separate; to split.Relationships may rend if tempers flare.Rending of garments for shiva is a Jewish tradition.

    Anagrams

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