verb
rend
REND/rend/
To tear apart physically or emotionally.
The man rends the sturdy cloth with both hands.
Etymology
The old sense of tearing or cutting down survives in the idea of forceful separation. Middle English already used the verb for slashing something from top to bottom or tearing it into parts.
In context
howling, laced with shrill demon-shrieks, the ferocious oppression in those shrieks far surpassing before, as if to rend a person's very soul.
More examples
- A sharp crack rent the quiet air.
- The family was rent by bitter disagreements.
- The storm had rent the old sail in two.
Forms
rend · rends · rent · rending