Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) to attack someone savagely, either physically or verbally.

[1969		J. Crumley One to Count Cadence (1987) 43: Airman tried to give him a higher asshole with a rum bottle].
1970		G. Scott-Heron Vulture (1996) 45: Them spic mothuhs gon’ tear him a bran’ new one.
1977		(con. 1969) M. Herr Dispatches 116: He wrapped tight enough to tear you a new asshole.
1986		L. Heinemann Paco’s Story (1987) 81: They nail him with six or seven solid hits — just about tore him a new asshole, as the saying goes.
1987		T. Wolfe Bonfire of the Vanities 480: Say your prayers, Park Avenue! . . . Tear you a new one!
1992		R. Price Clockers 59: I [...] like to tear him a new asshole, almost killin’ himself over a thirteen-year-old girl.
1999		Guardian Guide 2–8 Oct. 4: You must crush people, get them to fear you, tear somebody a new one every now and then.
2000		C. Cook Robbers (2001) 22: Well, let’s go find that fuck [...] Cut him a new asshole.
2000		F.X. Toole Rope Burns 174: Punk, I tear you a new asshole!
2002		Simon & Burns ‘The Hunt’ Wire ser. 1 ep. 11 [TV script] You need to rip him a new one, Your Honor.
2005		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper 4 259: The staff would turn a blind eye while the inmates kicked a new arsehole into him.
2009		T. Black Gutted 16: If I’d less to worry about, I’d be looking for those yobs, tearing them new arseholes.
2010		A. Steinberg Running the Books 67: If Amato alighted upon your office door [...] it meant one thing: he was about to tear you a new asshole.
2012		Salon.com 17 Nov. 🌐 When I’m on Piers Morgan and he’s ripping me a new asshole, that’s TV.
2013		T. Robinson Hard Bounce [ebook] What I needed more than anything was to get back out and rip the world a new asshole.
2013		T. Black Ringer [ebook] You’ve got to stand your ground with these radges or they tear you a new arsehole for the fun of it.
2017		T. Spicer Good Girl Stripped Bare 179: I wish I’d torn him a new one.
2019		S.M. Jones Lives Laid Away [ebook] ‘Director Phillips tore me a new one in his office for about fifteen minutes’.
2021		L. McInerney Rules of Revelation 358: Natalie had ripped him a new one: he’d gone to her apartment [...] and come out traumatised.
2022		Twitter 22 Mar. 🌐 Ex-Pres of Ukraine tears Boris Johnson a new one over his comparison of Ukraine with Brexit.