n. 1
A tear (in paper, etc.).
n. 2
A type of strong, rough tide or current. A rip current: a strong outflow of surface water, away from the shore, that returns water from incoming waves.
n. 3
A type of strong, rough tide or current. A tract of broken water (in a river or stream), particularly one which is not as rough as rapids.
v. 1
To divide or separate the parts of (especially something flimsy, such as paper or fabric), by cutting or tearing; to tear off or out by violence.
to rip a garment; to rip up a floor

Related words

Word family: rip-off ripper ripple rippy rip-roaring
Phrases: rip-off rip out rip into rip current tide rip let rip rip up off the rip

Forms

Plural: rips → rake-hells, rakes, bloods, profligates…
Past participle: ripped
e.g. ripped → rent, pulled, rived, snatched…

Choose the right word

or Rip?

To rip, as usually applied to garments or other articles made by sewing or stitching, is to divide along the line of a seam by cutting or breaking the stitches; the other senses bear some resemblance or analogy to this; as, to rip open a wound.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

blood I'm anxious to know the results of the blood test.
split That crisis threatened to split the nation in two.
tear Tom said that he watched them tear down the house.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
rip		rising
blood		rising
roue		falling
split		rising
tear		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: gap¹, nip¹
4 letters: race¹, pull¹, rent¹, tear¹, chew¹, rake¹, snag¹, rend, rive, roue
5 letters: blood¹, split¹, steal¹
6 letters: snatch¹, screed¹
10 letters: laceration⁴, profligate³
14 letters: countercurrent

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (laceration⁴ = 4 syllables).