LAC'ERATE, verb transitive [Latin lacero, to tear.] To tear; to rend; to separate a substance by violence or tearing; as, to lacerate the flesh. It is applied chiefly to the flesh, or figuratively to the heart. But sometimes it is applied to the political or civil divisions in a state.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI