Extracting audio and additionally video from removable media such as CDs, DVDs, BluRays and so forth.
Probably merge with or alias for multimedia-transcoding
Ripping is the process of copying audio or video content to a hard disk, typically from removable media such as compact disc (CD) or DVD, although the word refers to all forms of media. Despite the name, neither the media nor the data is damaged after extraction. Ripping is often used to shift formats, and to edit, duplicate or back up media content. Digital Audio Extraction (DAE) is a more formal phrase applied to the ripping of audio CDs.
Source: Wikipedia