perforate

American  

[pur-fuh-reyt, pur-fer-it, -fuh-reyt] / ˈpɜr fəˌreɪt, ˈpɜr fər ɪt, -fəˌreɪt /

verb (used with object)

perforated, perforating

1. to make a hole or holes through by boring, punching, piercing, or the like.

2. to pierce through or to the interior of; penetrate.

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verb (used without object)

perforated, perforating

1. to make a way through or into something; penetrate.

adjective

1. perforated.

perforate British  

/ ˈpɜːfərəbəl /

verb

1. to make a hole or holes in (something); penetrate

2. (tr) to punch rows of holes between (stamps, coupons, etc) for ease of separation

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adjective

1. biology

   1. pierced by small holes

      perforate shells

   2. marked with small transparent spots

2. philately another word for perforated

Other Word Forms

• multiperforate adjective
• nonperforating adjective
• perforable adjective
• perforative adjective
• perforator noun
• unperforable adjective
• unperforating adjective
• unperforative adjective

Etymology

Origin of perforate

1530–40; < Latin perforātus, past participle of perforāre to bore ² through; 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.

Example Sentences

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

So that the Americans outshot the Canadians, 45-23, is important because they know they can perforate the defense in the gold medal game.

From Washington Post • Feb. 15, 2018

Geometric cutouts perforate the restaurant’s facade, an allusion to Dogon architecture in Mali, repeated indoors and on the ceiling over a semi-enclosed back garden.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2018

Another, weighing 200 grams on February 3, 1952, still was imperforate, but by February 27 she was perforate and appeared to be in oestrus.

From Ecological Observations on the Woodrat, Neotoma floridana by Fitch, Henry S.

Related Words

• puncture