rendn.
/rɛnd/, U.S. /rɛnd/ 1. A tear, a split; a division, a rupture. (In physical and non-physical contexts.)
ΚΠ
1581 L. Bryskett Let. 2 Mar. in H. R. Plomer & T. P. Cross Life & Corr. (1927) 18 Wherein now so great a rend or gashe being made by violence.
1670 R. Baxter Cure Church-div. 381 O what rends and ruins had it prevented in the Christian world?
1704 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion III. xiv. 416 There appear'd such a rend among the Officers of the Army, that the Protector was compell'd to displace many of them.
1791 B. Din in Lyons Coll. (1920) II. i. 49 They may then sew up the rend in the Cloaths.
1835 J. H. Cooke Narr. Events South of France vi. 136 I..made three puncturations on either side of the rend, and with a piece of cord..tied the divided jacket together.
1843 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. Sept. 199 A block of wood with a rend in it was taken, and the rend filled with the glue.
1903 Sc. Mountaineering Club Jrnl. Sept. 369 Of the Cairngorms only odd corners were seen occasionally, or great patches of white through a rend in the veil.
1991 J. Galloway Scenes from Life No. 23 in Blood (1992) 19 Time ticked on the cold blue rend of joint and socket, the cracking of bone, the drill and the saw.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [noun] > planking > each continuous line of planking > seam between planks
seamc1000
rend1704
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > cracks
star-shake1779
rend1850
season-check1887
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Rends in a Ship, are the same as the Seams between her Planks.
1705 tr. G. Guillet de Saint-Georges Gentleman's Dict. iii. at Oakum It may be driven into the Seams, Trennels, and Rends of a Ship, to stop, or prevent a Leak.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 140 Rends, large open splits or shakes in timber..by its being exposed to the wind and sun.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
rendv.1
/rɛnd/, U.S. /rɛnd/ 1.
a. transitive. To tear, pull, or rip (something) away from its proper place or current position; to remove (a thing, occasionally a person) by force. Formerly also: †to pull up, extirpate (obsolete). Chiefly with from, out of. Also figurative.
ΚΠ
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Mark xi. 8 Alii..frondes caedebant de arboribus : oðero..ða twiggo uel ða telgo gebugun uel rendon [OE Rushw. gibegdun uel rendun] of ðæm trewum.
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke xiii. 7 Uenio querens fructum in ficulnea hac et non inuenio; succidite ergo illam : ic cuom sohte wæstm on ficbeame ðisser & ne ic fand uel ne gemoete ic hrendas uel scearfað forðon ðailca uel hia [OE Rushw. ceorfas uel rendas].
a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 48 A domes-dai to a bittre bacþe we sule bo nakit, Of brimston & of piche wellinde imakit, Þer-inne sathanas þe feind us rent wid is rake.
c1300 St. James Great (Laud) l. 181 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 39 (MED) Þis desciples..ech lime fram oþur rende.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 645 I rente out of his book a leef.
a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 8 Aueruncto, to renden otis.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 959 Sir Bors drew hys helme so strongely that he rente hit frome..hys hede.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 399 Lik a wyld best that war fra reson rent, As wytlace wy, in-to the ost he went.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vii. xii. 96 Quhais hed ger war..Maid of the cork or bark fra treis rent.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. v. sig. P8v As if she had intended Out of his breast the very heart haue rended . View more context for this quotation
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. ii. 94 We must not rend our Subiects from our Lawes, And sticke them in our Will. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 63 The Rocks are from their old Foundations rent . View more context for this quotation
1702 C. Beaumont J. Beaumont's Psyche (new ed.) ii. cxxviii. 22 She..rent from thence, before Psyche's astonish'd eyes, that viperous fry Which her snarl'd soul in unfelt bands did ty.
1795 T. Maurice Hist. Hindostan I. i. xiii. 517 The sea burst through the narrow isthmus between Dover and Calais, and Britain was rent from the continent.
1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone i. 10 Altar, whence the cross was rent.
1830 Spiritual Mag. June 31 No sin, nor grief, nor deep distress, Peril or sword, or nakedness, Can rend us from our God.
1867 ‘Ouida’ Idalia II. vi. 151 If it rend me out of his memory, he may live to be grateful for it.
1893 R. S. Ball Story of Sun 295 To rend this stone from the home where it was originally placed.
1927 V. Woolf To Lighthouse ii. iv. 202 A rock rends itself from the mountain and hurtles crashing into the valley.
1960 T. Hughes Lupercal 45 Let the old school tie be rent Off their necks.
1991 D. McBain Art Roebuck 55 The wrenching twist of one ice-cake had rent the plastic pipe from the pumphouse.
b. transitive. With adverbs, esp. away, off.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > pushing and pulling > push and pull [verb (transitive)] > pull > away > away, out, or off violently
rend?c1225
rendc1225
rasea1387
renta1398
renda1400
racea1413
rachec1425
rivec1440
rash1485
rush1485
ranch1579
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 119 Þeos þe schaweð hire god haueð ipiled Mi figer irent alþe rinde þer of [c1230 Corpus irend..of; a1250 Titus Irent..of; a1400 Pepys rent away], istruped hire steortnaked, & iwarpen.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 1332 (MED) Syþen rytte þay þe foure lymmes & rent of þe hyde.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 4328 (MED) They..Rent out peces of ther aventaylles.
1514 S. Appulby Fruyte of Redemcyon xvi. sig. C.iii They drewe the knotty scourges they rent awaye the flesshe withall.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 8518 Þen Andromaca for dol..rent of hir clothis.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 53 Not rend [1580 rent] of, but cut of, rype beane with a knife.
1602 W. Segar Honor Mil. & Civill ii. x. 69 The King or Generall shall cause the Points of his Pennon or Guydon to be rent off.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Somerset 22 Being so rudely rent off, it hath..defaced his Monument.
1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality I. iv. 93 He..began to cut and rip and rend away the lacings of his suit.
1781 W. Cowper Charity 559 All disguises shall be rent away That square not truly with the scripture plan.
1863 N. Hawthorne Our Old Home II. 271 I seemed to rend away and fling off the habit of a lifetime.
1897 T. H. Huxley Disc. Biol. & Geol. iii. 80 Portions were rent off and floated away.
1919 Sewanee Rev. 27 63 The veils of romanticism were rent away, and men looked steadfastly upon stark life.
2005 P. Davidson Idea of North i. 31 They beheld an old man..sitting not far off, on a lofty seat facing the side of the rock that had been rent away.
c. transitive. spec. To take or steal (a possession) from a person or nation by force; (also, chiefly in early use) to remove (a quality, attribute, belief, etc.) from a person's thoughts or character. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > loss > taking away > take away [verb (transitive)] > forcibly or suddenly
reaveOE
bereavec1320
atreachc1325
ravisha1398
reach?a1400
to catch awayc1400
rendc1450
ravena1513
pull1530
despoila1533
snatch1597
reap1634
extort1785
to pounce away1821
erept1865
c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 33 (MED) O frendis, come rennyng And helpe..this fyre were fro me rent.
?a1500 (?a1475) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1923) 38 379 He taught þe chylder for to thryve And to þam toke he so gud tente Þat..rebaldry fro þam was rentte.
1573 J. Bridges Supremacie Christian Princes 1055 The kingdome shoulde be rente from him, and giuen to a better.
1611 Bible (King James) 1 Kings xi. 11 I wil surely rend the kingdome from thee. View more context for this quotation
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ix. 394 This Kingdome after it was rent from the Romanes, remained in subiection vnder the French.
a1720 W. Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iv. 341 So shall thy government be rent from thee and thy house.
1741 R. Rawlin Christ Righteousness of his People vi. 243 Let the enemies of his cross and of his glory, rend his Deity from him, and then expect salvation by him.
1753 W. Smith tr. Thucydides Hist. Peloponnesian War II. viii. 453 Their destruction should be compleated, and Samos rent away from the Athenians.
1827 J. Grahame Hist. United States N. Amer. II. vi. 328 One of the leaders of the sect..concluded by tearing his own cap in two, and prophesying that the government would be rent from Cromwell and his family.
1897 J. Macgowan Hist. China xxix. 459 One is struck..with the apathy..of Shun Ti, in view of the rebellions that were rending his country from him.
1906 M. Cholmondeley Prisoners 26 Was her little hand to rend his illusions from him?
1913 G. H. Morrison Weaving of Glory xxvii. 316 His cattle were all rent away from him, and then his children were all rent away from him.
2.
a. transitive. With up. To rip or tear (something) out of the ground or from a settled place in order to remove or destroy it; to uproot violently. Formerly also: †to lift up (obsolete). Now somewhat archaic and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > pushing and pulling > push and pull [verb (transitive)] > pull > away > away, out, or off violently
rend?c1225
rendc1225
rasea1387
renta1398
renda1400
racea1413
rachec1425
rivec1440
rash1485
rush1485
ranch1579
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Bodl.) (1981) 775 (MED) He..het..neomen hire ant..hire tittes..rende..up hetterliche wið þe breost roten.
a1425 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Linc. Inn) (1973) l. 1573 (MED) Mony men redy þer weoren Þeo two stones vp to reren. And whan þat þey weoren vp yrent, Two dragons þer weoren ybent.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. l. 5348 (MED) Hector..rent hym vp a-forn him on his stede.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 2613 The flourys, the lef is rent vp by the rote To makyn garlondis & crounnys hye.
?c1500 Mary Magdalene (Digby) l. 1083 Þe fowle wedes and wycys, I reynd vp be þe rote.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 12511 Cut down þere sailes, Ropis alto rochit, rent vp the hacches.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1348/2 Which tempest..rent vp manie great trees,..or woond them like withies.
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine ii. i. 56 God rent them up by the roots in the days of Pekah.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 539 Others with vast Typhœan rage..Rend up both Rocks and Hills, and ride the Air in whirlwind. View more context for this quotation
1733 E. Budgell Bee IV. 437 Whose daring Sons, by wild Ambition driv'n, Rent up the Hills, and lifted Earth to Heav'n.
1809 London Med. & Surg. Spectator Apr. 334 The flags of the floor of the stable were forcibly rent up with their hoofs.
1985 E. Adler Léonie xliii. 259 Amazon riverbanks crashed, rending up giant centuries-old trees by their roots and hurling them into the torrent as though they were twigs.
b. transitive. With down (also †adown). To pull, drag, or tear down; to destroy. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > pushing and pulling > push and pull [verb (transitive)] > pull > away > away, out, or off violently
rend?c1225
rendc1225
rasea1387
renta1398
renda1400
racea1413
rachec1425
rivec1440
rash1485
rush1485
ranch1579
a1400 Siege Jerusalem (Laud) (1932) l. 1268 (MED) Pelours, masly made, of metals fele..Þe Romayns renten hem doun & to Rome ledyn.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 132 He wan the Citee after And rente adoun bothe wal and sparre and rafter.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 286 (MED) Þe Ape..with hire pawis roggyd and Rent a-downe branchis and wode.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ii. viii. 16 Troianis agane, schaipand defence to mak, Rent turrettis doun.
1594 R. Wilson Coblers Prophesie sig. A3 Vnhallowed hands, and harts impurer farre, Rend downe the Altars sacred to the Gods.
1698 Spelman's Hist. Sacrilege 63 A wonderful Tempest of Rain and Lightning suddenly came upon them; and rending down part of the Mountains, overwhelmed many of the Army.
1725 View London & Westm. 12 I have seen..a brawny Ale-Wife, ready to rend down her Brothel, with roaring for whole Tuns of Six-threads.
1779 Paul Jones ii. 11 They rend down partitions and tear walls asunder.
1867 All Year Round 30 Nov. 547/2 Almost all the palaces and large churches were rent down or partly fallen.
1906 C. M. Doughty Dawn in Brit. II. viii. 202 Dread custom is, The same day, that, those virgins nine rend down, Their temple house.
3. transitive. To tear (one's clothes) or tear at (one's hair, body, etc.) in rage, grief, despair, etc. Now chiefly hyperbolical.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > manifestation of anger > show anger [verb (transitive)] > tear the hair, face, or clothes
rendc1225
rentc1405
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > other manifestations of sorrow > manifest sorrow [verb (transitive)] > tear (hair or clothes)
rendc1225
rentc1405
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) 683 (MED) Þe reue þis iseh rende his claðes & toc him seolf bi þe top feng to fiten his feont.
?a1300 Iacob & Iosep (Bodl.) (1916) 176 (MED) Þe moder feng to renden hire neb & hire smoc.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1977 His cloðes rent, in haigre srid, Long grot and sorge is him bi-tid.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 1595 (MED) Why hatz þou rended þy robe forredles hereinne?
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 4368 For in-to teris þouȝ þou al distille And rende þi silfe, as þou wost þe spille.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 870 Ho coude wryte..how hire heer she rente.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin 195 (MED) A squyer..com cryinge and betynge his hondes to-geder and rendinge his heer.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xii. x. 126 The Latyn matronys..rent thair hair with, ‘harrow’, and ‘allaik!’
a1591 H. Smith Poore Mans Teares (1592) 62 The man of Beniamin came..with his clothes rent, and dust vpon his head in token of heauinesse.
1611 Bible (King James) Ezra ix. 3 I rent my garment and my mantle..and sate downe astonied. View more context for this quotation
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 412 It seem'd so high an Arrogation, that he rent his clothes and said he had spoken blasphemie.
1730 E. Young Paraphr. Job 17 His friends..In anguish of their hearts their mantles rent.
1772 W. Jones Poems 35 She rends her silken robes, and golden hair.
a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) II. 308 Lo, they will weep, and rend their hair.
1868 E. Atherstone Fall of Nineveh (ed. 2) II. xix. 136 Tore out his hair; his teeth gnashed; stamped the floor, And rent his garments.
1962 B. Childs Memory & Trad. in Israel ii. 19 David took to heart a word that all his sons had been killed. Even though the word was false, a commensurate action followed. He rent his garments.
1999 Time 8 Nov. 36/3 In the month since Gore began rending his garments in public, his poll numbers have stabilized against Bradley's and risen against George W. Bush's.
2005 San Francisco (Calif.) Chron. (Nexis) 28 Aug. 22 When the town of Sunnydale slid into the hellmouth on ‘Buffy’..my fellow fans and I rent our hair and blubbered.
4. transitive. To lacerate or wound severely (a person or part of a person's body); to cut into or tear (the flesh of an animal, a carcass, etc.); to dismember. Frequently figurative and in extended use. Also with asunder, (in later use) apart. Now somewhat literary.
ΚΠ
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Royal) (1934) 17 (MED) He..bed..wið sweord scharpe & wið eawles of irne hire leofliche lich rondin ant renden.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 5871 Lute vuel þoȝte he, þo me is wombe rende.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1851 (MED) Þe werwolf..went to him euene, wiþ a rude roring as he him rende wold.
c1400 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 441 (MED) Fals men multiplien mony bokes of þe Chirche, nowe reendynge byleve and nowe clowtyng heresies.
c1440 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Thornton) 317 (MED) For him þat rewfully rase, and rente was one rude, Thynke one þe dawngere and the dole þat I in duelle.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin 26 Vortiger made hem to be rente and drawen a-sonder.
a1513 W. Dunbar Ballat Abbot of Tungland in Poems (1998) I. 58 Evir the tuschettis at him tuggit, The rukis him rent, the ravynis him druggit.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour iii. xxi. sig. fi He therfore was rente with curses and rebukes of the people.
1573 J. Davidson Breif Commendatioun Vprichtnes xl. 234 As rauing rebalds rudelie to be rent.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 161 His fellowes take punishment of him, and fall on him biting and rending his skinne.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) v. iv. 47 For whose deare sake, thou didst then rend thy faith Into a thousand oathes. View more context for this quotation
1666 N. Foxcroft Let. 11 Sept. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) III. 228 Instead of a bell they have a bell-weather priest, who..intollerably rends his throate there at certaine times with bawling.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 411 Through generous scorn To rend a victim trembling at his foot.
1876 J. G. Holland Story of Sevenoaks (new ed.) xiv. 195 While men are about to rend each others reputations.
1892 Frank Leslie's Pop. Monthly Oct. 420/2 At the slightest signal they would have fallen upon this worn-out satyr and rent him limb from limb.
1902 A. Quiller-Couch Westcotes xi. 247 In the smart of his wound he had turned and rent her cruelly, but had recovered himself and defended her loyally from worse rendings.
2006 W. R. Trotter Warrener's Beastie xxv. 417 She was resolved to rend him apart with delights he had never dreamed of.
5.
a. intransitive. To split apart; to break or burst open; = tear v.1 7. Also figurative. Now somewhat archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (intransitive)]
burstc1000
breakc1175
rendc1275
cracka1400
perbreak?a1400
crazec1430
twinc1450
frush1489
to fall apart1761
fracture1885
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 3914 Scipen gunnen helden; bosmes þer rendden; water in wende.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 281 But casuelly the shippes botme rente And ship and man vnder the water wente.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. bviv Ryngis of rank steill rattillit and rent.
1578 T. Proctor Gorgious Gallery B iij I should..heale that hart that rendes.
1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall 25 My shoe shall rend.
1611 Bible (King James) 1 Sam. xv. 27 He laid hold vpon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent . View more context for this quotation
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vi. 268 The Rocke, which (as they say) rent at his crucifying.
1705 E. Hickeringill Priest-craft 50 Samuel's Cassock, made of rotten black Cloath, perhaps, or else it would not have rent.
1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck ii. 29 The mizen rending, from the bolt-rope flew.
1828 W. Taylor Historic Surv. German Poetry I. 277 The veil of the temple rends; an earthquake is felt.
1840 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. II. ii. vii. 79 The walls of tenements rending and sinking, until a deep chasm..was formed.
1919 E. Goodwin Duchess of Siona iii. 51 That great moment arrives in which the world rends into its original atoms.
1986 V. O'Sullivan Pilate Tapes 38 Yet Rat too gets toey As the veil rends.
b. transitive. To tear or split (something) apart; to rip or break into pieces. Frequently with asunder, (in later use) apart. Also figurative and in figurative context.The earlier attestation of sense 3 suggests that a more general sense ‘to tear’ may have already been in use in the early 13th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > tearing or tearing apart > tear [verb (transitive)] > tear apart
to-loukc890
to-braidc893
to-tearc893
to-teec893
to-rendc950
to-breakc1200
to-tugc1220
to-lima1225
rivea1250
to-drawa1250
to-tosea1250
drawa1300
rendc1300
to-rit13..
to-rivec1300
to-tusec1300
rakea1325
renta1325
to-pullc1330
to-tightc1330
tirec1374
halea1398
lacerate?a1425
to-renta1425
yryve1426
raga1450
to pull to (or in) piecesc1450
ravec1450
discerp1483
pluck1526
rip1530
decerp1531
rift1534
dilaniate1535
rochec1540
rack1549
teasea1550
berend1577
distract1585
ream1587
distrain1590
unrive1592
unseam1592
outrive1598
divulse1602
dilacerate1604
harrow1604
tatter1608
mammocka1616
uprentc1620
divell1628
divellicate1638
seam-rend1647
proscind1659
skail1768
screeda1785
spret1832
to tear to shreds1837
ribbon1897
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) l. 725 (MED) Þe fiss þat þi net rente, Fram þe he me sente.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xxvii. 51 Loo! the veile of the temple is kitt, or rent, in to two parties.
c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 526 For he þat is to rakel to renden his cloþez, Mot efte sitte..to sewe hem to-geder.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 646 He rent the seyl with hokys lyk a sithe.
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 2570 (MED) A braunche hys surplys hente And the cloth a-sonder Rente.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Sam. xv. 27 He gat him by ye edge of his garment & rente it.
1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall 1 The medling Ape, that like a tall wood cleauer, assaying to rend a..billet in two peeces, did wedge in his pettitoes.
1591 E. Spenser Prosopopoia in Complaints 1370 Upon those gates..he fiercely flewe, And, rending them in pieces [etc.].
1607 T. Walkington Optick Glasse vi. 40 There must needs be action and reaction, a bustling and strugling together..will soon..rend a sunder the whole compound.
1661 J. Howell Twelve Several Treat. 331 The grave Venerable Bishop..fetcht such a sigh, that would have rended a rock asunder.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 108 She tears the Harness, and she rends the Reyn. View more context for this quotation
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xvii. 363 The Telamonian Lance his Belly rends.
1789 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 754/1 A most tremendous storm of rain, with thunder and lightning, remarkably vivid, by which the trunk of a large oak-tree was rent from top to bottom.
1819 W. Irving Sketch Bk. i. 19 At times the black volume of clouds over head seemed rent asunder by flashes of lightning.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. vi. 42 The glacier..is rent by deep fissures.
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 7 A banner that was many a time rent, but was never out of the field.
1907 G. Massey Anc. Egypt II. xii. 877 The veil was pierced or rent asunder when Horus rose in the shape of a divine hawk to become the Lord of heaven.
1986 O. Rackham Hist. Countryside xi. 240 The wetwood bacteria generate methane gas under pressure which is capable of rending the wood apart.
2002 Foreign Policy Nov.–Dec. 74 America's nascent neoimperial grand strategy threatens to rend the fabric of the international community.
c. intransitive. To tear something into pieces; to cause something to split or be torn. Also with at, through. Now literary and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > tearing or tearing apart > tear [verb (intransitive)]
renda1325
racec1390
sundera1393
shearc1450
ruska1525
rent1526
tear1526
to go abroad1568
raga1642
spalt1731
screeda1801
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3506 Ne slo ðu nogt wið hond ne wil, Ne rend, ne beat nogt wið vn-skil.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Jer. xv. 3 A swerd to sleeynge and doggis for to reende.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 10209 He hurlit of helmys, hedis within, Rent thurgh ribbis, russhit vnfaire.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iii. i. 247 Whose Rage doth rend Like interrupted Waters. View more context for this quotation
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 21 If schisme parted the congregations before, now it rent and mangl'd.
1758 I. Fletcher Diary 27 July (1994) 50 Had 4 wallers: 2 rending at Mossergate & 2 pointing at home.
1818 P. B. Shelley Julian & Maddalo 357 The dagger heals not, but may rend again.
1876 J. S. Blackie Songs Relig. & Life 240 Never cast your pearls to swine, Who turn, and rend and trample.
1984 G. McCaughrean Canterbury Tales (1988) 1 As I stabled my horse, I found twenty other animals, their heads already in the manger, rending noisily at the knots of hay.
d. transitive. To cause great emotional pain to. Chiefly with heart as object. Cf. heart-rending adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > cause anguish to or torment [verb (transitive)]
quelmeOE
eatc1000
martyrOE
fretc1175
woundc1175
to-fret?c1225
gnawc1230
to-traya1250
torment1297
renda1333
anguish1340
grindc1350
wringc1374
debreakc1384
ofpinec1390
rivea1400
urn1488
reboil1528
whip1530
cruciate1532
pinch1548
spur-galla1555
agonize1570
rack1576
cut1582
excruciate1590
scorchc1595
discruciate1596
butcher1597
split1597
torture1598
lacerate1600
harrow1603
hell1614
to eat upa1616
arrow1628
martyrize1652
percruciate1656
tear1666
crucify1702
flay1782
wrench1798
kill1800
to cut up1843
a1333 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 26 (MED) Mon wyth sorewe is uurst ybore And eft wyth sorewe rend and tore.
1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Norbert (1977) l. 2658 The wikkid spirit wil euyrmore perse and bore, With sundry assayes..To loke who he may renden men and race, And brynge hem oute of þe trew rith weye.
c1450 (?a1405) J. Lydgate Complaint Black Knight (Fairf.) 220 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 391 (MED) The peynful lyve, the body langwysshing, The woful gost, the hert rent and tore..Parcel declare grounde of my peynes alle.
c1530 New Notborune Mayd (c1535) sig. Aiiv My herte and mawe To rent and drawe..Cheseth not he?
a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1637) 614 His heart is not rent, his mind is not troubled.
1647 O. Sedgwick Nature & Danger of Heresies 23 Schismes doe only rent the coat, but Heterodoxies do rent the heart.
1666 J. Bunyan Grace Abounding §104 That Scripture did also tear and rend my soul.
1706 N. Rowe Ulysses ii. i Her labouring Heart is rent with Anguish.
1766 O. Goldsmith Ballad [the Hermit] in Vicar of Wakefield I. viii. 77 The sigh that rends thy constant heart Shall break thy Edwin's too.
1832 T. H. Chivers Path of Sorrow 34 Our life is that asperity which rends The heart, in sorrow's path.
1877 ‘Rita’ Vivienne iii. vii His strong frame rent and shaken by a storm of emotion.
1891 E. Peacock Narcissa Brendon II. 87 Her heart was rent by contending emotions.
1908 E. Hubbard Health & Wealth 92 The cause of jealousy is never equal to the tragedy that tears and rends the soul.
2008 Village Voice (Nexis) 3 Sept. His expressionistic use of ballet can still rend the heart.
e. transitive. Chiefly literary. Of sounds, esp. loud noises: to resound piercingly through (the air, sky, etc.). Also (of a person, animal, etc.): to make a sound which pierces (the air) in this way. Now usually in to rend the air.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > loudness > make a loud sound or noise [verb (transitive)] > assail the ears or air
beata1382
renda1398
tear1597
split1603
peal1641
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 139 Thondir..somtyme..semeþ þat it reendeþ and cleueþ heuen.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 776 Sovne ys noght but eyre ybroken..For whan a pipe is blowen sharpe The aire ys twyst with violence And rent.
1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 2nd Pt. ii. iii Ah good my Lord be patient, she is dead, And all this raging cannot make her liue, If woords might serue, our voice hath rent the aire, If teares, out eles haue watered all the earth.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. ii. 490 Anon the dreadfull thunder Doth rend the region. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 183 Thunder mixt with Haile..must rend th' Egyptian Skie. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 66 Then, thrice the Ravens rend the liquid Air. View more context for this quotation
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. viii. 404 Loud applauses rend the vaulted sky.
a1771 T. Gray Imit. Propertius in Wks. (1814) II. 87 While the vaulted skies loud ïos rend.
1844 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VIII. lxiv. 318 A shout of joy rent the air.
1885 C. F. Holder Marvels Animal Life 175 Yells,..snatches of song, and heave-hoys rent the air.
1920 F. S. Fitzgerald Flappers & Philosophers 81 She sat very quiet listening while the staccato cries rent the stillness.
1944 C. Beaton Diary 13 Mar. in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xiv. 127 Sirens went off shrilly and the air was rent with whistling.
1984 A. Ali in M. Shamsie Dragonfly in Sun (1997) 13 Khwaja Ashraf Ali began to rend the air with his cries of ‘Aao, aao’ (come).
1997 E. Hand Glimmering ii. ix. 177 The air rent by their wailing.
f. transitive. To divide (a country, society, institution, etc.) into parties or factions.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > become at variance with [verb (transitive)] > cause (dissension) > destroy unity
dividec1380
disunite1562
rend1610
atomize1895
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > tearing or tearing apart > tear [verb (transitive)] > tear apart > reputations, nations, etc.
rend1610
1603 J. Davies Microcosmos 138 Woe woorth such vip'rous Cousins that wil rend Their Mothers wombe (the Common-wealth) to raigne.]
1610 J. Donne Pseudo-martyr x. 285 Hereupon arose such a schisme, as rent that country into very many parts.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 131 The Commons live, by no Divisions rent . View more context for this quotation
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 274 He saw both Church and State were rent.
a1797 E. Burke Ess. Abridgm. Eng. Hist. (rev. ed.) in Wks. (1812) V. 624 Popes and anti-popes arose. Europe was rent asunder by these disputes.
1838 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Ferdinand & Isabella I. i. v. 169 Navarre..still continued to be rent with those sanguinary feuds.
1894 W. M. Torrens Hist. Cabinets I. xiii. 432 The time was unpropitious for reverting to the old-fashioned experiment in Parliament-making when the country was rent by faction.
1914 S. C. Denson Our Criminal Criminal Law xii. 114 Sooner or later dissensions will rend the organization and bring failure and disintegration.
1999 Times 8 Sept. 16/7 Dr David Jenkins..accuses Tony Blair of presiding over an ‘increasingly divided’ society, rent by the ‘trickledown’ economic theory and ‘steamrollered’ by individualism.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > tearing or tearing apart > tear [verb (transitive)] > tear paper or cloth, or make ragged > wear out by tearing
rend1600
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. v. 5 Thou shalt not gurmandize..and sleepe, and snore, and rend apparraile out. View more context for this quotation
7. transitive. technical. To make (laths) by cleaving wood along the grain into thin strips; (also) to strip (trees) of bark.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > build or construct with wood [verb (transitive)] > other processes
makec1450
rough-hew1530
rip1532
stick1573
list1635
frame1663
fur1679
beard1711
cord1762
butt1771
drill1785
joint1815
rend1825
broach1846
ross1853
flitch1875
bore1887
stress-grade1955
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > uncovering > uncover or remove covering from [verb (transitive)] > strip or make bare > strip of outer layer > strip of skin, husk, or bark > strip of bark
bark1545
unbark?1567
disbark1578
spoil1578
delibrate1623
debark1744
rend1893
1688 [implied in: London Gaz. No. 2318/4 A Man..by Trade a Hoopshaver, or Lathrender. (at lath-render n. at lath n. Compounds 3)].
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 612 The following is the method of rending or splitting laths.
1859 T. L. Donaldson Handbk. Specif. 137 The laths are to be rended out of the best..fir timber.
1893 S. Baring-Gould Mrs. Curgenven I. xiv. 161 The stools of coppice..were of some five years' growth since last ‘rended’ for bark.
Phrases
In alliterative phrases, as to raise and rend, to rive and rend, etc. See also to rap and rend at rap v.3 Phrases. Now rare.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 4490 (MED) A mykil rauen my basket hent, a-boute my heued hit raue and rent.
a1425 (a1349) R. Rolle Meditations on Passion (Uppsala) (1917) 46 (MED) Þou were so rased and rent..til al þi vtter blode was bledde.
c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) l. 10256 (MED) Ryȝt ose his mantyll reuyn was, so suld þe reme be raysed and rent.
c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) l. 17642 (MED) Of þer rest þei were remeued, þer ryches robes all rafed and rent.
1554 D. Lindsay Dialog Experience & Courteour l. 5104 in Wks. (1931) I And sum, for thare vnleifsum actis, Ar rent and rewin apone the ractis.
1581 J. Studley tr. Seneca Hippolytus iv, in T. Newton et al. tr. Seneca 10 Trag. f. 73v What Procrustes rackt and rent thee streacht on bed of Steele?
1599 J. Lok in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) II. i. 106 If it should happen to haue lighted on any part of the shippe,..it would rent and wreth sayles, mast, shroudes and shippe and all in manner like a wyth.
a1625 J. Fletcher Monsieur Thomas (1639) ii. ii. sig. D4v Rambaldo the sleeping Gyant Will rowze and rent thee piece-meale.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. iv. 137 She..snatch'd all she could rape and rend, unto her self.
1818 T. G. Fessenden Ladies Monitor 35 His elbows, hoofs and paws That rip and rend and rive like saw mill-saws.
1924 J. Riviere et al. tr. S. Freud Coll. Papers II. xxxiv. 395 The neurotic human being brings us his mind racked and rent by resistances.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
rendv.2
/rɛnd/, U.S. /rɛnd/ Now chiefly U.S. regional.† 1. transitive. To produce, make. In quot.: (apparently) to make an image or statue of a calf. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) cv. 19 The kalfe thai rendid, the ydol thai made.
2. transitive. = render v. 20. Also with down, out.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of melting > melt [verb (transitive)]
formeltc893
meltOE
dissolve1382
rend1558
eliquate1638
discoagulatea1658
fuse1681
1558 [implied in: 1558 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories N. Counties Eng. (1835) I. 167 ij great cakes of rended tallowe xxxiijs. iiijd. (at rended adj.1)].
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 32 In makinge of your salve yow are first to rende or melt your tallowe in a panne.
1875 W. Morris Lett. sent Home xxvi. 279 The manner of rending the lard, whether by steam or kettle process, has also to be branded on the package.
1896 F. M. T. Palsgrave List Words & Phrases Hetton-le-Hole 38 I rended the lard out of a pig.
1969 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (2002) IV. at Shortening bread It's made with corn meal just like a corn bread, and then the crackings..where the lard has been rended out.
2003 P. Genovese New Jersey Curiosities 66 It has a pleasant smell, not like fish oil or sperm oil or A-tallow oil, which is what you get after you rend an animal carcass.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1581
v.1OE
v.2a1500