perforate
Americanverb (used with object)
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perforates,
present (3rd person singular)
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perforated,
past participle, past
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perforating
present participle
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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
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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
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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
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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
“You come to the park to escape the city. By letting the cars in, you perforate the edge of the park and let the city in.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2018
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 marine shells are, as we have seen, of cemented particles, or calcareous, glassy, and regularly perforated, or again calcareous, but porcellanous and rarely perforate.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various
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
The one of these keys perforates the lower end of the first pump-rod, and the upper end of the second pump-rod which is held fast.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georgius Agricola
Dozens of pasta formats, made with flour from the company’s own mill, are shaped by traditional bronze dies, or perforated disks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025
Robyn Goldie died after suffering a perforated duodenal ulcer.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 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
Most of it is extremely low-lying and perforated by tidal canals.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2025
There’s the cathedral with its perforated spire, and the bulky old Chateau de Saint-Malo, and row after row of seaside mansions studded with chimneys.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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
But Borum noted that it’s not unusual for people with ulcers to be asymptomatic until they develop a complication, such as bleeding or perforating, as in Dingell’s case.
From Washington Post ● May 26, 2021
I showed up at my HMO's ER with what turned out to be a flipped colon that was on its way to perforating and had ...
From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2016
Modernity, led by the automobile, was perforating the frontier.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
