on a tear
/ɒn ə ˈtɛə(ɹ)/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.35 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
prep_phrase
Engaged in a continuous, fast-paced procession of actions or events, especially with favorable results.
prep_phrase
In or into a protracted state of agitation, fury, or zeal.
prep_phrase
Binge drinking; engaged in a bout of heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages; on a bender.
Example Sentences
- "[T]he team was on a tear, having laid waste to three early round tournament opponents by a total victory margin of 82 points."
- "To say he went on a tear after turning professional would be an understatement. He went fourteen fights without tasting defeat."
- "[T]he market has been on a tear for more than six years and continues to trade near record highs."
- "Congress has been hopping mad and the U.N.-haters have been on a tear."
- "[W]hen the gay activist and playwright Larry Kramer goes on a tear, when he really lays into somebody about being politically lazy or not wearing a condom,. . . [y]ou hear rage."
- "The man I want to tell you about, the one I met at the bar at Jimmy's Steak House, was on a tear. Hardly surprising, since this was a bar, after all, and what do people do at bars except drink, and one drink leads to another -- and if you're in a certain frame of mind, I suppose, you don't stop for a day or two or maybe more."