Tearing about the rock (7)
I believe the answer is:
granite
'rock' is the definition.
(type of rock)
'tearing about' is the wordplay.
'about' indicates anagramming the letters.
'tearing' anagrammed gives 'GRANITE'.
'the' is the link.
(Other definitions for granite that I've seen before include "Hard granular rock" , "Coarse-grained igneous rock" , "Igneous rock, generally composed of feldspar and mica and quartz" , "Resilience; stone" , "Tangier (anag.)" .)