percolate

[ verb pur-kuh-leyt; noun pur-kuh-lit, -leyt ]

See synonyms for percolate on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),per·co·lat·ed, per·co·lat·ing.

to cause (a liquid) to pass through a porous body; filter.
(of a liquid) to filter through; permeate.

to brew (coffee) in a percolator.

verb (used without object),per·co·lat·ed, per·co·lat·ing.

to pass through a porous substance; filter; ooze; seep; trickle.
to become percolated: The coffee is starting to percolate.

to become active, lively, or spirited.
to show activity, movement, or life; grow or spread gradually; germinate: Interest in the idea has begun to percolate.

noun

a percolated liquid.

Origin of percolate

1620–30; <Latin percōlātus, past participle of percōlāre to filter. See per-, colander, -ate¹

pronunciation note For percolate

The pronunciation of percolate as

[pur-kyuh-leyt], /ˈpɜr kyəˌleɪt/, 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

[k] /k/ is followed by some other vowel, the [y] /y/ represents a hypercorrection. The pronunciation of escalate as [es-kyuh-leyt] /ˈɛs kyəˌleɪt/ is another such example. See coupon, new.

Other words from percolate

per·co·la·ble, adjective
per·co·la·tive, adjective
un·per·co·lat·ed, adjective

Words Nearby percolate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use percolate in a sentence

Russian militants continue to percolate through the Ukrainian border, hoping their Kremlin-stoked fantasies will come true.
The Kremlin’s Crazy Shock Troops | Oleg Shynkarenko | May 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
And this effect would probably percolate up the food chain somewhat.
So What About Indexing the Minimum Wage for Inflation? | Megan McArdle | February 15, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Novel gun control ideas continue to percolate through the commentariat.
Should People Be Forced to Buy Liability Insurance for their Guns? | Megan McArdle | December 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
I realize now that I was naive to think any of that would percolate through.
Buzz Bissinger on Being Savaged by the Liberal Media After Backing Mitt Romney | Buzz Bissinger | October 11, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
In the U.S., it took more than a decade for the lessons to percolate from the teach-ins to the startups.
The Middle East's Other Boom: Entrepreneurship | John Kao | March 5, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST

With pulp treated in steeping tanks, fresh water is allowed to percolate or drain slowly through the mass.
The Manufacture of Paper | Robert Walter Sindall
No water can percolate athwart it, and consequently where it is, there the superincumbent soil is resolved into a quagmire.
A Book of Ghosts | Sabine Baring-Gould
The Gulf had risen close enough to their little well to percolate through the sand into it and render it as salt as itself.
The Boy Chums in the Gulf of Mexico | Wilmer M. Ely
Concentrate the weak percolate to a soft extract and dissolve in the reserved portion.
The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 2 of 2 | Various
Through pressure of instincts from past lives, strengths or weaknesses percolate gradually into human consciousness.
Autobiography of a YOGI | Paramhansa Yogananda

British Dictionary definitions for percolate

percolate

verb(ˈpɜːkəˌleɪt)

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
to permeate; penetrate gradually: water percolated the road

(intr) US informal to become active or lively: she percolated with happiness
to make (coffee) or (of coffee) to be made in a percolator

noun(ˈpɜːkəlɪt, -ˌleɪt)

a product of percolation

Origin of percolate

C17: from Latin percolāre, from per + cōlāre to strain, from cōlum a strainer; see colander

Derived forms of percolate

percolable (ˈpɜːkələbəl), adjective
percolation, noun
percolative, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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