To rend asunder is to wrench something violently apart. The storm rent the whole roof asunder.
The pieces are large rather than small, which is what separates it from shredding. To rend asunder is deliberately biblical and appears mostly in writing about disasters.
1phraserend asunderTo wrench something violently apart, splitting it into large separate pieces rather than small shreds.
“The blast seemed to rend asunder the whole front of the building.”
rend asunder is a phrase.
Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire