percolate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
percolates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
percolated,
past participle, past
-
percolating
present participle
-
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)
-
percolates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
percolated,
past participle, past
-
percolating
present participle
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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percolatesimple
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percolatessimple
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have percolatedperfect
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has percolatedperfect
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am percolatingprogressive
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are percolatingprogressive
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is percolatingprogressive
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have been percolatingperfect progressive
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has been percolatingperfect progressive
Past
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percolatedsimple
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had percolatedperfect
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was percolatingprogressive
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were percolatingprogressive
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had been percolatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of percolate
1620–30; < Latin percōlātus, past participle of percōlāre to filter. See per-, colander, -ate 1
Explanation
When something percolates, it spreads gradually. If the news of your victory in the spelling bee spread slowly through your entire school, you could sit back and enjoy watching it percolate. When a liquid percolates, it's filtered through something, and when an idea percolates, it's filtered through a group of people. Percolate often refers specifically to coffee, which is brewed by mixing ground coffee beans with hot water and filtering them through paper — in other words, coffee percolates. The Latin root is percolatus, which comes from per, or "through," plus colare, "to strain."
Vocabulary lists containing percolate
This Week in Pop Culture: December 29, 2018 - January 4, 2019
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2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
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This Week In Culture: August 1–6, 2020
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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:
That focus will likely prove key if the current rotation deepens over the summer months as bond yields rise and inflation pressure percolate.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
But early in the year, core inflation excluding food and energy prices started to percolate, and the war with Iran has seemed to bring inflation to a boil.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
Signs of stress continue to percolate as some private-credit funds mark down the value of their loans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
The thing is, how do these things percolate three, four generations later?
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
Reporters from far-flung cities wired the same observation back to their editors, and stories of delight and awe began to percolate through the most remote towns.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
That lack of fear percolates through Ambiguous Desire, where every pang of doubt is offset by a moment of euphoria or beauty.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026
"It's very much a wait to see how the removal of the tariffs percolates through the supply chain," he added.
From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026
And yet this is a novel that percolates and simmers, provoking questions about the reader’s privilege while prompting awe at the writer’s singular empathy — and his subjects’ humility.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2025
“Liberation” percolates with lively humor, as when Lizzie introduces herself as a journalist who writes “obituaries and weddings—which in a way are the same thing.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2025
My heart percolates and my hands begin to sweat.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
The question has percolated for Walmart all year, fueled by its new digital shelf labels and a pair of patents—one to dynamically update prices online and another to recommend prices based on anticipated demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
To be fair, concerns about whether AI even has been a bubble have percolated for months.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
The panic has percolated enough that political consultant and data guru Paul Mitchell set up a model predicting the likely makeup of the top two.
From Slate ● Apr. 7, 2026
News of the possible sale had percolated since last year, as Starbucks’ business in China faltered.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2025
Even percolated black coffee wouldn’t keep you awake, if you were reading these.
From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt
Both the title of “Bass Persuades” and the percolating sound of its title track would seem to suggest a dance-leaning collection to follow the strange and dark prog-pop opus “Something Beautiful” from 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
But as “Dreams in Nightmares” wends its way to a close, it’s also easy to believe you’re witnessing a percolating virtuosity that’s all Ford’s own.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
"We're not the only jurisdiction that's facing that ageing-related crisis, because similar issues are percolating in Australia and England," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Even in the film’s most convoluted moments, there’s a fire of dissent percolating just beneath its surface.
From Salon ● May 22, 2026
No matter how wet and cold you are, black coffee percolating will get you through it.
From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
