perforate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make a hole or holes through by boring, punching, piercing, or the like.
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to pierce through or to the interior of; penetrate.
verb (used without object)
adjective
verb
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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
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philately another word for perforated
Other Word Forms
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
Born a Crime
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Chuck Berry (1926-2017) Tribute List
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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.
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
He observes that librarians seem to hate books, eager as they are to perforate and stamp them.
From New York Times • Jul. 18, 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
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
In adult females the ratio of those that were perforate usually fluctuated between one-fourth and three-fourths of the total.
From Aspects of Reproduction and Development in the Prairie Vole (Microtus ochrogaster) by Fitch, Henry S.
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.
