The verb tear, which goes back to Middle Engl. tere(n), had open long e, so that its spelling is justified.

动词tear可以追溯到中古英语tere(n), 包含开元音长音e，因此它的拼写是合理的。 Tear（眼睛里的一滴水）有着同样的开元音长音e。

youdao

The traditional spelling is d-o-u-g-h-n-u-t but people often just spell it d-o-n-u-t.

VOA: special.2010.04.12