Meaning

4 senses
  1. (transitive)To separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to split; to burst.

    Powder rends a rock in blasting.

    Lightning rends an oak.

    zerreißen, zerspalten, spalten

    раздира́тьrazdirátʹ, разрыва́тьrazryvátʹ

  2. (figuratively, transitive)To violently disturb the peace of; to throw into chaos.

    a scream that rent the air

  3. (transitive)To part or tear off forcibly; to take away by force; to amputate.

    отрыва́тьotryvátʹ

  4. (intransitive)To be rent or torn; to become parted; to separate; to split.

    Relationships may rend if tempers flare.

More definitions
  • tear or be torn violently

Examples

1 sentences
  1. But where was he to go, in order to escape the relentless monster that sought to rend him?

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Translations

6 languages
Русский
By meaning 2
to separate into parts with force:
to part or tear off forcibly:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
to separate into parts with force:

Origin

From Middle English renden, from Old English rendan (“to rend, tear, cut, lacerate, cut do

From Middle English renden, from Old English rendan (“to rend, tear, cut, lacerate, cut down”), from Proto-West Germanic *(h)randijan (“to tear”), of uncertain origin. Believed by some to be the causative of Proto-Germanic *hrindaną (“to push”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱret-, *kret- (“to hit, beat”), which would make it related to Old English hrindan (“to thrust, push”). Cognate with Scots rent (“to rend, tear”), Old Frisian renda (“to tear”).

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Forms

rends, rending, rent, rent
Base formrend · to rend
3rd person singularrends
Present participlerending
Past simplerent / rended
Past participlerent / rended

irregular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyrend
he, she, itrends

Past simpleLesson

all personsrent

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave rent
he, she, ithas rent

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill rend

Synonyms

3 synonyms
Close in meaning

Word family

6 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
rend — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto