tear yourself away
tear yourself away — phrasal verb
- tear yourself awaybase form
- tears yourself away3rd person singular
- tearing yourself away-ing form
- tore yourself awaypast simple
- torn yourself awaypast participle
1. to force yourself to stop looking at or leave a person, place, or activity that
to force yourself to stop looking at or leave a person, place, or activity that you find very interesting or enjoyable, especially when you feel you should move on to something else.
Liam could not tear himself away from the detective novel he had started at midnight.
tear + reflexive pronoun + away from [something absorbing]
Salma finally tore herself away from the stunning sunset view over the valley.
The children could not tear themselves away from the puppy in the shop window.
collocation: cannot tear oneself away
Kenji tore his eyes away from the computer screen when his mother called him.
variation: tear one's eyes away from
- tear oneself away from
- cannot tear oneself away
- tear one's eyes away
- tear one's gaze away
- drag oneself away
stronger physical effort implied; less common
- pull oneself away
equally common; slightly less dramatic than 'tear'
- leave reluctantly
more formal; describes the result rather than the effort
Grammar Patterns
tear + reflexive pronoun + away + from + noun phrase
Usage Note
Commonly used in negative constructions (couldn't / could not tear oneself away) or in the imperative with a forced tone. The direct object is a reflexive pronoun matching the subject: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.