[Vocabulary] to tear up

[constantinusphilo]

This sentence is from The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris:
He tore a nurse up in the asylum.
What did Lecter do exactly to her? Did he chop her whole body? Did he rip her up? Or did he only disfigure her face? (The last variant is suggested by the French translation: A l’hôpital, Lecter a défiguré une infirmière.) The Russian translation, as it seems, departs still further from the original, saying that Lecter выколол глаз медсестре (gouged the nurse's eye. So, what is the precise meaning?

 

[tedmc]

To tear up something is to violently rip and pull apart something to destroy it like a paper shredder does. It does not refer to any specific part of the item to be torn. Your "rip her up" would be the closest in meaning.

 

[emsr2d2]

I take it to mean that he ripped/tore her to pieces. Hannibal Lecter's favoured method of killing is butchering, and then sometimes eating some of the victim's body parts.

 

[jutfrank]

Are you asking only about Or did he only disfigure her face?