Hypertext Webster Gateway: "rend"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Rend \Rend\ (r[e^]nd), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Rent} (r?nt); p. pr.
& vb. n. {Rending}.] [AS. rendan, hrendan; cf. OFries. renda,
randa, Fries. renne to cut, rend, Icel. hrinda to push,
thrust, AS. hrindan; or cf. Icel. r?na to rob, plunder, Ir.
rannaim to divide, share, part, W. rhanu, Armor. ranna.]
1. To separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to
tear asunder; to split; to burst; as, powder rends a rock
in blasting; lightning rends an oak.
The dreadful thunder Doth rend the region. --Shak.
2. To part or tear off forcibly; to take away by force.
An empire from its old foundations rent. --Dryden.
I will surely rend the kingdom from thee. --1 Kings
xi. 11.
{To rap and rend}. See under {Rap}, v. t., to snatch.
Syn: To tear; burst; break; rupture; lacerate; fracture;
crack; split.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Rend \Rend\, v. i.
To be rent or torn; to become parted; to separate; to split.
--Jer. Taylor.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
rend
v : tear or be torn violently; "The curtain ripped from top to
bottom"; "pull the cooked chicken into strips" [syn: {rip},
{rive}, {pull}]
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