tear one's hair out

English

Alternative forms

• pull one's hair out
• pull out one's hair

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

tear one's hair out (third-person singular simple present tears one's hair out, present participle tearing one's hair out, simple past tore one's hair out, past participle torn one's hair out)

Tweedledum tears his hair out.

1. (idiomatic) To react with extreme agitation.

   My friend's job at a call center is so stressful he could tear his hair out.

   • 1871, Lewis Carroll, “Chapter IV”, in Through the Looking-Glass:

     "It's only a rattle," Alice said, after a careful examination of the little white thing. "Not a rattle-snake, you know," she added hastily, thinking that he was frightened: "only an old rattle — quite old and broken."
     "I knew it was!" cried Tweedledum, beginning to stamp about wildly and tear his hair. "It's spoilt, of course!" Here he looked at Tweedledee, who immediately sat down on the ground, and tried to hide himself under the umbrella.

Related terms

• tear one's hair

Translations

react with extreme agitation

• French: s’arracher les cheveux (fr)
• Greek: τραβάω τα μαλλιά μου (el) (traváo ta malliá mou)
• Spanish: rasgarse las vestiduras, mesarse los cabellos