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torn

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tear up the pea patch

obsolete To go on or indulge in a wild outburst, spree, or rampage. (Used largely in relation to sports, especially baseball, where the phrase originated in reference to players running amok and ruining the game.) Primarily heard in US. Another fight has broken out between the two teams. These boys are positively tearing up the pea patch! A few rowdy types entered the bar and tore up the pea patch. They didn't even pay for anything!

See also: patch, pea, tear, up

all tore up

1. Very upset or emotional. Both "tore" or "torn" can be used in this phrase. Sean has been all tore up since his wife left him. A: "Did you hear that Joe died?" B: "I know, I've been all torn up about it."

2. slang Intoxicated. Do you remember last night at all? You were all tore up!

See also: all, tore, up

*all tore up (about something)

Inf. very upset and sorry about something. (The correct torn can also be used. *Typically: be ~; get ~.) When Jim's dog was lost, he was all tore up about it. I'm all tore up about denting your car like that. I'd be more than happy to pay for fixing it.

See also: all, tore, up

torn between (someone and someone else)

 and torn between something and something else

Fig. uncertain whether to choose one or the other. I don't know which to take. I'm torn between Fred and Alice. I'm torn between red and green.

See also: torn

torn between, be

Be distracted by two conflicting choices, be in a dilemma, as in I'm torn between going to the mountains or going to the seashore; each appeals to me . This idiom was first recorded in 1871.

See also: torn

tore (up)

and torn (up) and tore down

1. mod. distraught; emotionally upset. Fred’s really torn up about the accident.

2. mod. alcohol or drug intoxicated. He wasn’t just drunk—he was massively tore up.

See also: tore, up

torn up

verb

See tore up

See also: torn, up

torn

verb

See tore up