on a tear

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɒn ə ˈtɛə(ɹ)/

Prepositional phrase

on a tear

1. (idiomatic) engaged in a continuous, fast-paced procession of actions or events, especially with favorable results.
   • 1981 April 13, “Sport: Raging Bull of Basketball”, in Time, retrieved 28 August 2015:

     [T]he team was on a tear, having laid waste to three early round tournament opponents by a total victory margin of 82 points.

   • 2014 November 7, Dan Hardy, “Michael Bisping analysis”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 28 August 2015:

     To say he went on a tear after turning professional would be an understatement. He went fourteen fights without tasting defeat.

   • 2015 July 9, William D. Cohan, “The Bumbling, Irrelevant New York Stock Exchange”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 August 2015:

     [T]he market has been on a tear for more than six years and continues to trade near record highs.

2. (idiomatic) In or into a protracted state of agitation, fury, or zeal.
   • 2001 May 29, Thomas L. Friedman, “Foreign Affairs: 95 to 5”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 August 2015:

     Congress has been hopping mad and the U.N.-haters have been on a tear.

   • 2012 September 27, Wesley Morris, “‘How to Survive a Plague’ looks back at AIDS activism’s power”, in Boston Globe, retrieved 28 August 2015:

     [W]hen the gay activist and playwright Larry Kramer goes on a tear, when he really lays into somebody about being politically lazy or not wearing a condom,. . . [y]ou hear rage.

3. Binge drinking; engaged in a bout of heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages; on a bender.
   • 2013, T. C. Boyle, T.C. Boyle Stories II: The Collected Stories of T. Coraghessan Boyle, →ISBN:

     The man I want to tell you about, the one I met at the bar at Jimmy's Steak House, was on a tear. Hardly surprising, since this was a bar, after all, and what do people do at bars except drink, and one drink leads to another -- and if you're in a certain frame of mind, I suppose, you don't stop for a day or two or maybe more.

   • 1998, Dana Stabenow, Fire and Ice, page 77:

     That Kelly, when he goes on a tear, he don't wait for the bars to open.

Usage notes

• In the sense of "engaged in a fast-paced procession of actions", often used with reference to a series of successes in sporting competitions.

See also

• winning streak

Further reading

• “on a tear”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• aeronat