Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RIP, v.t. [Sax. rypan, ryppan, hrypan; Sw. rifva; Dan. river. This belongs to the great family of Sax. reafian, L. rapio, Ir. reabam, Eng. reap and rive; allied perhaps to the L. crepo, Fr. crever.]

1. To separate by cutting or tearing; to tear or cut open or off; to tear off or out by violence; as, to rip open a garment by cutting the stitches; to rip off the skin of a beast; to rip open a sack; to rip off the shingles or clapboards of a house; to rip up a floor. We never use lacerate in these senses, but apply it to a partial tearing of the skin and flesh.
2. To take out or away by cutting or tearing away. – Otway. He'll rip the fatal secret from her heart. – Granville.
3. To tear up for search or disclosure or for alteration; to search to the bottom; with up. You rip up the original of Scotland. Spenser. They ripped up all that had been done from the beginning of the rebellion. – Clarendon.
4. To rip out, as an oath. [This seems to be the D. roepen, Sax. hreopan, to cry out; allied to L. crepo, Fr. crever.]