verb ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To rend or tear severely; tear badly; rip all over. transitive

   "Then red with ire, her tresses she berent; And weeping hid the beauty of her face:"

Example

More examples

"Then red with ire, her tresses she berent; And weeping hid the beauty of her face:"

Etymology

From Middle English *berenden, from Old English berendan (“to peel, take off husk”); equivalent to be- + rend.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.