penetrate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to pierce or pass into or through.
The bullet penetrated the wall. The fog lights penetrated the mist.
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to enter the interior of.
to penetrate a forest.
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to enter and diffuse itself through; permeate.
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to arrive at the truth or meaning of; understand; comprehend.
to penetrate a mystery.
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to obtain a share of (a market).
to penetrate the Canadian coffee market.
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to affect or impress (the mind or feelings) deeply.
- Synonyms:
- touch
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to extend influence, usually peacefully, into the affairs of (another country).
verb (used without object)
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to enter, reach, or pass through something, as by piercing.
We penetrated to the interior of the Kasbah.
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to be diffused through something.
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to understand or read the meaning of something.
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to have a deep effect or impact on someone.
verb
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to find or force a way into or through (something); pierce; enter
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to diffuse through (a substance); permeate
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(tr) to see through
their eyes could not penetrate the fog
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(tr) (of a man) to insert the penis into the vagina of (a woman)
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(tr) to grasp the meaning of (a principle, etc)
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(intr) to be understood
his face lit up as the new idea penetrated
Synonym Usage
See pierce.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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penetrabilitynoun
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penetratornoun
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prepenetrateverb (used with object)
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penetrableadjective
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penetrativeadjective
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unpenetratedadjective
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penetrablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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penetratesimple
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penetratessimple
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have penetratedperfect
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has penetratedperfect
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am penetratingprogressive
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are penetratingprogressive
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is penetratingprogressive
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have been penetratingperfect progressive
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has been penetratingperfect progressive
Past
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penetratedsimple
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had penetratedperfect
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was penetratingprogressive
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were penetratingprogressive
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had been penetratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of penetrate
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin penetrātus “entered the interior of,” past participle of penetrāre “to enter the interior of,” from penet-, variant stem of penitus “deep down” + -āre, infinitive verb suffix, with the vowel change and addition of -r- probably by analogy with intus “inside,” intrāre “to enter” ( see enter ( def. ))
Explanation
To penetrate is to force into or pierce through. If the fog is thick as pea soup, your flashlight won’t penetrate it. If you stubbornly ignore good advice, people might say nothing can penetrate that thick skull of yours. We get penetrate from the Latin word penetrare, which combines penes ("within") and intrare ("to enter"). Penetrate crops up most often to describe entering or permeating. Blaring music penetrated every corner of the dorm and we wondered how anyone could study with that racket. Penetrate can also mean to decipher or understand: "Careful study allowed us to penetrate the mysteries of Pig Latin." Finally — no surprise, given its Latin roots — the word can be used to describe sexual intercourse.
Vocabulary lists containing penetrate
"The Ravine," Vocabulary from the short story
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Tuck Everlasting
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Esperanza Rising
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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:
They were developed by the Army to penetrate a steel helmet from a faraway distance.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
It’s visiting elements that can penetrate your soul and stay with you and inspire you or push buttons or make you angry or make you happy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
It provides broader spectrum protection than other ingredients, shielding skin from both UVA rays—which penetrate deep into the skin, causing premature aging—and UVB rays, which cause sunburns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
Amid the information vacuum, speculation is mounting as to how the aircraft managed to penetrate a city which has some of the world's strictest airspace controls.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Hence Austronesians evidently reached the New Guinea region but failed completely to penetrate the island’s interior and were genetically diluted by New Guinea’s previous residents on the north coast and islands.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Laboratory tests showed the peptide is stable, penetrates brain-like cells, and restores movement while reducing protein deposits in a worm model of Parkinson's.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2025
He’s been drilling holes in the concrete walls with the large red contraption, which comes with a small attached vacuum that sucks up concrete dust as it penetrates the wall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2025
By being forced to conceal their feminist values, she argues women are being stripped of their ability to fight against gender inequality, which penetrates workplaces, politics and public life.
From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2025
Light barely penetrates a few meters below the surface, so satellites cannot see deeper seagrass patches.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 26, 2024
A sudden chill penetrates my bones, and I hear laughter again.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
The contrast suggests that solar wind particles penetrated much farther into the far side regolith.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
It's even penetrated some of the moss cells.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
General Dan Caine -- the top US military officer, who spoke alongside Trump -- said these forces "audaciously penetrated enemy territory in broad daylight to find, fix and recover" the pilot.
From Barron's ● Apr. 6, 2026
‘Chuck Norris penetrated the internet as the internet was figuring out how to be something that took over the culture at large.’
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 20, 2026
For the first time, the meaning instead of the grammar of what Claudia had said penetrated.
From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg
Companies are boosting their usage of AI, with the technology now penetrating one in five U.S. businesses, per the U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
The long-range Ukrainian drones now penetrating deep inside the country.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
Nothing is more sublime than transitioning from Jimin’s penetrating vocals of “You know how we do!” on “2.0” directly to the deep reverberations of the ancient bell that soothe and reset.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
One kick, as Q-Tip herself explains in one of her thought-bubble monologues, is capable of penetrating a steel wall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
This difference in their points of view did not prevent Copley from endowing Revere’s portrait with an ingenious significance and penetrating characterization.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
