perforate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
perforates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
perforated,
past participle, past
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perforating
present participle
-
to make a hole or holes through by boring, punching, piercing, or the like.
-
to pierce through or to the interior of; penetrate.
verb (used without object)
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perforates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
perforated,
past participle, past
-
perforating
present participle
adjective
verb
-
to make a hole or holes in (something); penetrate
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(tr) to punch rows of holes between (stamps, coupons, etc) for ease of separation
adjective
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biology
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pierced by small holes
perforate shells
-
marked with small transparent spots
-
-
philately another word for perforated
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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perforatornoun
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multiperforateadjective
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nonperforatingadjective
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perforableadjective
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perforativeadjective
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unperforableadjective
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unperforatingadjective
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unperforativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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perforatesimple
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perforatessimple
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have perforatedperfect
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has perforatedperfect
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am perforatingprogressive
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are perforatingprogressive
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is perforatingprogressive
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have been perforatingperfect progressive
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has been perforatingperfect progressive
Past
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perforatedsimple
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had perforatedperfect
-
was perforatingprogressive
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were perforatingprogressive
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had been perforatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of perforate
1530–40; < Latin perforātus, past participle of perforāre to bore 2 through; see per-
Explanation
When you perforate something, you make a hole in it, like when you poke holes in a piece of aluminum foil to let steam escape while something is cooking. The word perforate has origins in the Latin word perforatus, the past participle of perforare, meaning “to bore through.” When you perforate something that’s essentially what you do: you bore through it, or punch a hole or holes in it like paper you perforate to fit the rings on your binder, or a leather belt that has been perforated with holes so that you can buckle it.
Vocabulary lists containing perforate
Born a Crime
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Chuck Berry (1926-2017) Tribute List
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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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.
See Examples For:
The state has also been a major oil and gas producer for more than a century, and authorities are well aware some 35,000 old, inactive oil and gas wells perforate the landscape.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 31, 2022
Scopes can cause bleeding or even perforate the bowel, something that occurs in about one of every 2,500 procedures.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 18, 2021
“The wickedness in the world, we just let it perforate the album,” Bono said.
From New York Times ● Sep. 6, 2017
The cytotrophoblast cells perforate the chorionic villi, burrow farther into the endometrium, and remodel maternal blood vessels to augment maternal blood flow surrounding the villi.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The following summer they are hatched, and the young immediately perforate the bark with their beaks, and begin to imbibe the sap.
From Eye Spy Afield with Nature Among Flowers and Animate Things by W. Hamilton (William Hamilton) Gibson
At its deepest point, the cut perforates about 3 inches into the tree’s trunk.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2024
Complications include chronic pain and mesh erosion, where the device cuts through tissue and perforates organs.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2022
Apollo 13 13: During Elon Musk’s maiden voyage, his ego becomes so big that it perforates the spaceship’s hull, necessitating a dangerous rescue.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 1, 2018
“Putting all this extra stitching in one place, however, actually perforates the fabric so I spread out the reinforcement stitching, forming an ‘X’ at each stress point.”
From Slate ● Dec. 26, 2012
With a motion similar to that of the earthworm, it perforates with extraordinary rapidity into the substance of the tree in which it is found.
From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 451 Volume 18, New Series, August 21, 1852 by William Chambers
The barb on Mr. King’s hook, sharpened by Mr. Flanagan, is how Carrie’s buoyant expectations, and ours, are so gleefully perforated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Ioan, who broke both arms, and suffered a fractured rib and perforated bowel, said he wished his dad was still here to "watch me grow up and be my dad".
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
A cousin to self-playing player pianos, photoplayers automatically play music read out of perforated piano rolls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2025
I started doing research into really nerdy stuff, and the perforated walls you see in the dark corridors are shipping pallets.”
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2025
You have a perforated appendix and we need to get you into surgery.
From "Booked" by Kwame Alexander
In Zachary's case it ended up perforating at 28 weeks which led to an emergency C-section.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2024
The practice of perforating pipelines and storing oil in pools in the jungle is an environmental disaster, Reuters reported last year, after visiting clandestine refineries in Narino province.
From Reuters ● Jul. 27, 2023
Form it by wrapping a piece of cardboard the size of the brisket in foil, then perforating it with an ice pick to let the smoke in.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2019
He said Essure carries some serious risks, such as perforating the uterus or Fallopian tubes if it is implanted improperly.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 21, 2015
Modernity, led by the automobile, was perforating the frontier.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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