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perforation

[pur-fuh-rey-shuh n]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR perforation ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a hole, or one of a series of holes, bored or punched through something, as those between individual postage stamps of a sheet to facilitate separation.
a hole made or passing through a thing.
the act of perforating.
the condition or state of being perforated.

Origin of perforation

1400–50; late Middle English < Medieval Latin perforātiōn- (stem of perforātiō) a boring through. See perforate, -ion
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for perforation

rift, discontinuity, fissure, opening, chip, chasm, gap, break, slit, rent, crack, aperture, cleft, hole, rupture, split, gash, cut, wound, prickle

Examples from the Web for perforation

Historical Examples of perforation

  • The policeman tore off a page at the perforation, and handed it to Mr. Mix.

    Rope

    Holworthy Hall

  • The perforation is the usual 12 and specimens are known entirely imperforate.

  • Some of both these values were issued with perforation late in 1857 or early in 1858.

  • In cases where ulceration and perforation have occurred, the odour is fæcal.

  • Where a perforation was not quite round, he touched it with his file.

    Privy Seal

    Ford Madox Ford

British Dictionary definitions for perforation

perforation

noun

the act of perforating or the state of being perforated
a hole or holes made in something
  1. a method of making individual stamps, coupons, etc, easily separable by punching holes along their margins
  2. the holes punched in this wayAbbreviation: perf
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
Word Origin and History for perforation
n.

early 15c., "hole made through something;" mid-15c., "action of perforating," from Middle French perforation or directly from Late Latin perforationem (nominative perforatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin perforare "bore or pierce through," from per- "through" (see per) + forare "to pierce" (see bore (v.1)).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
perforation in Medicine

perforation

[pûr′fə-rā′shən]

n.

The act of perforating or the state of being perforated.
An abnormal opening in a hollow organ or viscus, as one made by rupture or injury.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.