The term 'tears up' can be described by the following crossword solutions: SHREDS (6 letters), rips (4 letters), cries (5 letters), mutilates (9 letters), RENDS (5 letters), and getsmisty (9 letters). SHREDS and rips refer to tearing something into small pieces, while cries and getsmisty refer to crying. Mutilates and RENDS are more extreme forms of tearing, with mutilate meaning to severely damage or disfigure something and rend meaning to tear apart violently. All of these words describe different ways of expressing strong emotion, such as sadness or grief.