Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a very busy, energetic person; also attrib.

1972		Detroit Free Press (MI) 13 Aug. 134/2: ‘He was a tear-arse but he sang like an angel’.
1977		(con. 1941) R. Beilby Gunner 257: Fookin’ ’ell! D’jou see that fookin’ Taffy? A right tear-arse, ’e were!
1987		Asbury Park Press (NJ) 19 Sept. D16: The Rev. Teararse (the name says it all), Detective Malarkey (likewise).
1989		Guardian 14 July 27/4: A tear-arse vitality and humour.
1993		Guardian 14 Aug. 56/3: It is assumed that the reader is a proper tear-arse [...] able [...] ‘to hit the ground running’.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 123: [...] the tear-arse, one who cares little about the consequences of his or her actions.