pierced
Americanadjective
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punctured or perforated, as to form a decorative design.
a pendant in pierced copper.
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relating to or being a body part punctured for the purpose of inserting jewelry.
From jungle tribes to desert nomads to royalty, pierced ears were indicators of both beauty and social standing.
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relating to or being jewelry attached through a punctured body part: Nude bellies can be enhanced with pierced navel rings.
Pierced earrings cannot be returned or exchanged due to hygiene reasons.
Nude bellies can be enhanced with pierced navel rings.
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Heraldry. (of a charge) open at the center to reveal the field.
a lozenge pierced.
Usage
What does pierced mean? Pierced is an adjective that describes things that have had holes made in them by being penetrated or punctured, usually with something sharp. The word comes from the past tense of the verb pierce, which means to penetrate or puncture things in this way. This sense of the word is associated with needles and other thin, sharp objects used to pierce surfaces. To pierce someone’s ear is to make a hole in it with a needle so that an earring can be inserted. This is called a piercing. Pierced is especially used to describe ears and other body parts that have had a hole put in them so that jewelry can be inserted, as in pierced ears, pierced lip, pierced nose, and pierced eyebrow. It can also describe someone who has piercings, as in He was one of those pierced and tattooed guys. Pierced metal is metal that has been perforated with holes, such as to form a design. Example: My ears aren’t pierced—this is just a clip-on earring.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pierced
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.
A mother and her unborn twins miraculously survived after a metal pole fell off a truck on a Southern California freeway, pierced her car windshield and struck her in the stomach, authorities said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
Archaeologists recently uncovered jewelry that included a pierced deer tooth and beads, all carbon dated to around 11,000 years ago.
From Science Daily ● May 20, 2026
Claire’s, the accessories store and mall staple that has pierced the ears of more than 131 million customers over the decades, had long built its brand with a distinctive shade of bright violet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
But as birth mother to Kelly and her brother, her approval had to be given for things such as the children going on holiday abroad or having their ears pierced.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
“There are some girls at my Hebrew school with pierced ears, so maybe it’s only my family.”
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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.
