Pierce
[pɪəs] or [pɪrs]
Definition
(noun.) 14th President of the United States (1804-1869).
(verb.) make a hole into; 'The needle pierced her flesh'.
(verb.) penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument.
(verb.) cut or make a way through; 'the knife cut through the flesh'; 'The path pierced the jungle'; 'Light pierced through the forest'.
(verb.) move or affect (a person's emotions or bodily feelings) deeply or sharply; 'The cold pierced her bones'; 'Her words pierced the students'.
(verb.) sound sharply or shrilly; 'The scream pierced the night'.
Checker: Victoria--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To thrust into, penetrate, or transfix, with a pointed instrument.
(v. t.) To penetrate; to enter; to force a way into or through; to pass into or through; as, to pierce the enemy's line; a shot pierced the ship.
(v. t.) Fig.: To penetrate; to affect deeply; as, to pierce a mystery.
(v. i.) To enter; to penetrate; to make a way into or through something, as a pointed instrument does; -- used literally and figuratively.
Checker: Lorenzo
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Transfix, penetrate, perforate, drill, bore, enter, force a way into.[2]. Affect, move, touch, strike, thrill.
v. n. Penetrate, enter, thrill, force a way.
Typed by Leigh
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Perforate, bore, drill, penetrate, excite, affect, rouse, touch, move, enter,stab, transfix
ANT:Deaden, quiet, blunt, scott, allay, lull, compose
Checked by Adrienne
Definition
v.t. to thrust or make a hole through: to enter or force a way into: to touch or move deeply: to dive into as a secret.—v.i. to penetrate.—adj. Pierce′able capable of being pierced.—n. Pierc′er one who or that which pierces: any sharp instrument used for piercing: a stiletto.—adj. Pierc′ing.—adv. Pierc′ingly.—n. Pierc′ingness.
Edited by Ingram
Examples
- And the twilight, as she now sought to pierce it, was gradually lighted by a faint spark of reassurance. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Does not this pierce your grandfather's territory? Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- What was wanted was a missile to pierce a thick hide. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Mrs. Sparsit, from her place at the backgammon board, was constantly straining her eyes to pierce the shadows without. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- You pierce my heart, child! Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- General Franklin Pierce had joined the army in Mexico, at Puebla, a short time before the advance upon the capital commenced. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- The view from the summit would have been superb but for the fact that the sun could only pierce the mists at long intervals. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Gudrun gave a little cry of excitement, as if pierced with delight. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Gentlemen, I have heard my uncle say, that Tom Smart said the widow's lamentations when she heard the disclosure would have pierced a heart of stone. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Have you ever observed that his ears are pierced for earrings? Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- One Norwegian long defended it by his single arm, and was at length pierced with a spear thrust through the planks of the bridge from a boat beneath. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- She had a real, happy, glad, good-natured look; but she had een that pierced a body through. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It was pierced in the brim for a hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The very thought of such a possibility, so pierced my heart that it made me cry. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- As my sword went up to end her horrid career her paralysis left her, and with an ear-piercing shriek she turned to flee. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- The old woman's face was wrinkled; her two remaining teeth protruded over her under lip; and her eyes were bright and piercing. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- She never abated the piercing quality of her shrieks, never stumbled in the distinctness or the order of her words. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- It flew true as an arrow and piercing the poor devil's heart laid him dead upon the arena. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- One piercing scream escaped her lips as the brute hand clutched her arm. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- With piercing eagerness. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Little Dorrit, with a piercing cry, held her back. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Mr. Chadband, leaning forward over the table, pierces what he has got to follow directly into Mr. Snagsby with the thumb-nail already mentioned. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- No such inspired creation is at unity with itself, any more than the clouds of heaven when the sun pierces through them. Plato. The Republic.
- The needle gun has in the place of the swinging hammer a rectilinearly sliding bolt, carrying in front a needle which pierces the charge and ignites the fulminate by its friction. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Heaven's light, following her exile, pierces its confinesand discloses their forlorn remoteness. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
Edited by Antony