percolate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cause (a liquid) to pass through a porous body; filter.
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(of a liquid) to filter through; permeate.
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to brew (coffee) in a percolator.
verb (used without object)
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to pass through a porous substance; filter; ooze; seep; trickle.
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to become percolated.
The coffee is starting to percolate.
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to become active, lively, or spirited.
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to show activity, movement, or life; grow or spread gradually; germinate.
Interest in the idea has begun to percolate.
noun
verb
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to cause (a liquid) to pass through a fine mesh, porous substance, etc, or (of a liquid) to pass through a fine mesh, porous substance, etc; trickle
rain percolated through the roof
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to permeate; penetrate gradually
water percolated the road
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informal (intr) to become active or lively
she percolated with happiness
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to make (coffee) or (of coffee) to be made in a percolator
noun
Pronunciation
The pronunciation of percolate as , with an intrusive y -glide, results from analogy with words like circulate and matriculate, where the unstressed vowel following the k -sound is symbolized by a u spelling, making the y -glide mandatory. In similar words where is followed by some other vowel, the represents a hypercorrection. The pronunciation of escalate as is another such example. See coupon, new.
Other Word Forms
- percolable adjective
- percolation noun
- percolative adjective
- unpercolated adjective
Etymology
Origin of percolate
1620–30; < Latin percōlātus, past participle of percōlāre to filter. See per-, colander, -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The stars of the Bravo reality series “Summer House” — where a group of friends spend their summer weekends in the Hamptons and drama ensues — were just letting the romance percolate.
From Los Angeles Times
Now I’m sitting at the kitchen table with my sketchbook, a mallard’s feather, and a selection of my graphite pencils, letting what Dr. Crowchild said percolate.
From Literature
With prices of derivative products such as jet fuel and liquefied natural gas also affected, the economic fallout is already percolating down—even for energy exporters such as the U.S.
Signs of stress continue to percolate as some private-credit funds mark down the value of their loans.
"It's very much a wait to see how the removal of the tariffs percolates through the supply chain," he added.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
