Penetrate
['penɪtreɪt] or ['pɛnətret]
Definition
(verb.) come to understand.
(verb.) pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance; 'The bullet penetrated her chest'.
(verb.) insert the penis into the vagina or anus of; 'Did the molester penetrate the child?'.
(verb.) make one's way deeper into or through; 'The hikers did not manage to penetrate the dense forest'.
Inputed by Katherine--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To enter into; to make way into the interior of; to effect an entrance into; to pierce; as, light penetrates darkness.
(v. t.) To affect profoundly through the senses or feelings; to touch with feeling; to make sensible; to move deeply; as, to penetrate one's heart with pity.
(v. t.) To pierce into by the mind; to arrive at the inner contents or meaning of, as of a mysterious or difficult subject; to comprehend; to understand.
(v. i.) To pass; to make way; to pierce. Also used figuratively.
Edited by Carlos
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Pierce, perforate, bore, enter, transfix.[2]. Discern, understand, comprehend.
Checked by Hayes
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Pierce, enter, enter_into, reach, permeate, make_one's_way, disclose, fathom,[See PIERCE]
Checker: Olga
Definition
v.t. to thrust into the inside: to pierce into: to affect the mind or feelings: to enter and to fill: to understand: to find out.—v.i. to make way: to pass inwards.—ns. Penetrabil′ity Pen′etrableness.—adj. Pen′etrable that may be penetrated or pierced by another body: capable of having impressions made upon the mind.—adv. Pen′etrably so as to be penetrated—n.pl. Penetrā′lia the inmost parts of a building: secrets: mysteries.—ns. Pen′etrance Pen′etrancy the quality of being penetrant.—adjs. Pen′etrant subtle penetrating; Pen′etrating piercing or entering: sharp: subtle: acute: discerning.—adv. Pen′etratingly.—n. Penetrā′tion the act or power of penetrating or entering: acuteness: discernment: the space-penetrating power of a telescope.—adj. Pen′etrative tending to penetrate: piercing: sagacious: affecting the mind.—adv. Pen′etratively in a penetrative manner.—n. Pen′etrativeness the quality of being penetrative: penetrative power.
Edited by Adrian
Examples
- His quiver is not seen; if his arrows penetrate, their wound is like a thrill of new life. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- She was too self-engrossed to penetrate the recesses of his shyness, and besides, why should she care to give herself the trouble? Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- The object now is subjected to the blast, and as the sand will not penetrate a softened material sufficient to abrade a surface beneath, the exposed portions alone will be cut away. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The native faculties of his mind qualified him to penetrate into every science: and his unremitted diligence left no field of knowledge unexplored. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- You must penetrate the ponderous vocabulary, the professional cant to the insight beneath or you scoff at the mountain ranges of words and phrases. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- And even if she were not, the sound of the bell would penetrate every recess of her tiny apartment, and rouse her to answer her friend's call. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- I read these words over and over again: I felt that an explanation belonged to them, and was unable fully to penetrate their import. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Gerald had penetrated all the outer places of Gudrun's soul. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The opaque parts, through which no light has penetrated, leave the solution soft on the surface of the metal. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- A glance at his wound told me that it had not penetrated the bone. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- When evening came on, and the last rays of the setting sun penetrated through the side windows, this hall looked like a veritable Faust laboratory. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- As the question passed his lips, I penetrated the motive of the Indian's visit to my office at last! Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Fair words and fair pretences; but I penetrated below those assertions of themselves and depreciations of me, and they were no better. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- He sent his cavalry by both flanks, and they penetrated to the enemy's rear. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- It was more a feeling of duty--a feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this place. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- He had now announced his intention of returning to the scene of his exploits, and of penetrating into regions left still unexplored. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Other shells have been invented carrying a high explosive and capable of penetrating armour plates of great thickness, and exploding after such penetration has taken place. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The beaming sight, and the penetrating warmth, seemed to breed in him a cumulative cheerfulness, which soon amounted to delight. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- On any other, if you like, for I don't set up to be a penetrating character, and am well aware of my own deficiencies. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- This matter of lightning or of electricity is an extreme subtile fluid, penetrating other bodies, and subsisting in them, equally diffused. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- He held up two of his horrid fingers and gave me another of his unpleasantly penetrating looks. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- When yarn is dyed, the coloring matter penetrates to every part of the fiber, and hence the patterns formed by the weaving together of well-dyed yarns are very fast to light and water. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The azure of the sky penetrates the depths of the lake, and the waters are sweet and cool. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- The stylus penetrates this film, meeting from it the slightest possible resistance, and traces thereon the message. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The light of the sun never penetrates here. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- It is the same before a fire, the heat of which sooner penetrates black stockings than white ones, and so is apt sooner to burn a man's shins. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- Does it penetrate your heart, as it penetrates mine? Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
Inputed by Diego