Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Tear \Tear\ (t[^a]r), v. t. [imp. {Tore} (t[=o]r), ((Obs.
   {Tare}) (t[^a]r); p. p. {Torn} (t[=o]rn); p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Tearing}.] [OE. teren, AS. teran; akin to OS. farterian to
   destroy, D. teren to consume, G. zerren to pull, to tear,
   zehren to consume, Icel. t[ae]ra, Goth. gata['i]ran to
   destroy, Lith. dirti to flay, Russ. drate to pull, to tear,
   Gr. de`rein to flay, Skr. dar to burst. [root]63. Cf. {Darn},
   {Epidermis}, {Tarre}, {Tirade}.]
   1. To separate by violence; to pull apart by force; to rend;
      to lacerate; as, to tear cloth; to tear a garment; to tear
      the skin or flesh.

            Tear him to pieces; he's a conspirator. --Shak.

   2. Hence, to divide by violent measures; to disrupt; to rend;
      as, a party or government torn by factions.

   3. To rend away; to force away; to remove by force; to
      sunder; as, a child torn from its home.

            The hand of fate Hath torn thee from me. --Addison.

   4. To pull with violence; as, to tear the hair.

   5. To move violently; to agitate. ``Once I loved torn ocean's
      roar.'' --Byron.

   {To tear a cat}, to rant violently; to rave; -- especially
      applied to theatrical ranting. [Obs.] --Shak.

   {To tear down}, to demolish violently; to pull or pluck down.
      

   {To tear off}, to pull off by violence; to strip.

   {To tear out}, to pull or draw out by violence; as, to tear
      out the eyes.

   {To tear up}, to rip up; to remove from a fixed state by
      violence; as, to tear up a floor; to tear up the
      foundation of government or order.

Tare \Tare\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Tared}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Taring}.]
   To ascertain or mark the tare of (goods).

Tare \Tare\, n. [Cf. Prov. E. tare brisk, eager, OE. tarefitch
   the wild vetch.]
   1. A weed that grows among wheat and other grain; -- alleged
      by modern naturalists to be the {Lolium temulentum}, or
      darnel.

            Didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From
            whence then hath it tares?            --Matt. xiii.
                                                  27.

            The ``darnel'' is said to be the tares of Scripture,
            and is the only deleterious species belonging to the
            whole order.                          --Baird.

   2. (Bot.) A name of several climbing or diffuse leguminous
      herbs of the genus {Vicia}; especially, the {V. sativa},
      sometimes grown for fodder.

Tare \Tare\, obs. imp. of {Tear}.
   Tore.

Tare \Tare\, n. [F. tare; cf. Pr., Sp., Pg., & It. tara; all fr.
   Ar. tarah thrown away, removed, fr. taraha to reject,
   remove.] (Com.)
   Deficientcy in the weight or quantity of goods by reason of
   the weight of the cask, bag, or whatever contains the
   commodity, and is weighed with it; hence, the allowance or
   abatement of a certain weight or quantity which the seller
   makes to the buyer on account of the weight of such cask,
   bag, etc.

Source : WordNet®

tare
     n 1: any of several weedy vetches grown for forage
     2: weedy annual grass often occurs in grainfields and other
        cultivated land; seeds sometimes considered poisonous
        [syn: {darnel}, {bearded darnel}, {cheat}, {Lolium
        temulentum}]
     3: counterweight consisting of an empty container that is used
        as a counterbalance to obtain net weight