RIPPING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ripping mean? 

• RIPPING (adjective)
  The adjective RIPPING has 2 senses:

1. resembling a sound of violent tearing as of something ripped apart or lightning splitting a tree

2. very good; of the highest quality

  Familiarity information: RIPPING used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RIPPING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Resembling a sound of violent tearing as of something ripped apart or lightning splitting a tree

Synonyms:

rending; ripping; splitting

Context example:

heard a rending roar as the crowd surged forward

Similar:

cacophonic; cacophonous (having an unpleasant sound)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Very good; of the highest quality

Synonyms:

excellent; fantabulous; first-class; ripping; splendid

Context example:

a first-class mind

Similar:

superior (of high or superior quality or performance)

Domain region:

Britain (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

 Context examples 

It was a long, ripping slash, and deep as well.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

This exoplanet is so close to its star that if it got any closer, the star's gravity would start ripping it apart.

(Hubble Detects Exoplanet with Glowing Water Atmosphere, NASA)

The wind balked my every effort, ripping the canvas out of my hands and in an instant undoing what I had gained by ten minutes of severest struggle.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I had been with them five years, and old Coxon gave me a ripping good testimonial when the smash came, but of course we clerks were all turned adrift, the twenty-seven of us.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Joe did not appear for that function, and when Martin heard the gardener remark that most likely he was ripping the slats off the bar, Martin understood.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Reports related to the outer, protective wrapping of a device (e.g. a broken seal or ripping (compromised), lack of correct contents).

(Device Packaging Problem Evaluation Result, Food and Drug Administration)

He sprang at the foremost man (it was the chief of the Yeehats), ripping the throat wide open till the rent jugular spouted a fountain of blood.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

In that moment White Fang was in upon him and out, in passing ripping his trimmed remnant of an ear.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

After a good day’s killing I have seen our decks covered with hides and bodies, slippery with fat and blood, the scuppers running red; masts, ropes, and rails spattered with the sanguinary colour; and the men, like butchers plying their trade, naked and red of arm and hand, hard at work with ripping and flensing-knives, removing the skins from the pretty sea-creatures they had killed.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

There might be opportunity for a deft and ripping thrust of paw into the tender, unguarded belly.

(White Fang, by Jack London)