List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 394

SYNONYMS: tear, rip, rend, split, cleave.
These verbs mean to separate or pull apart by force.

Tear involves pulling something apart or into pieces: She tore the letter in shreds.
Rip implies rough or forcible tearing apart or away, often along a dividing line such as a seam or joint: Carpenters ripped up the old floorboards.
Rend usually refers to violent tearing or wrenching apart: The curtain was rent in two.
To split is to cut or break something into parts or layers, especially along its entire length or along a natural line of division: The wood stumps warmed me twice---once while I was splitting them, and again when they were on the fire.
Cleave most often refers to splitting with or as if with a sharp instrument: The apple's cleft right through the core.