porous

American  

[pawr-uhs, pohr-] / ˈpɔr əs, ˈpoʊr- /

adjective

1. full of pores.

2. permeable by water, air, etc.

   Synonyms:

   riddled, sievelike, pervious, penetrable

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porous British  

/ ˈpɔːrəs /

adjective

1. permeable to water, air, or other fluids

2. biology geology having pores; poriferous

3. easy to cross or penetrate

   the porous border into Thailand

   the most porous defence in the league

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porous Scientific  

/ pôr′əs /

1. Having many pores or other small spaces that can hold a gas or liquid or allow it to pass through.

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Other Word Forms

• nonporous adjective
• nonporousness noun
• porously adverb
• porousness noun
• unporous adjective
• unporousness noun

Etymology

Origin of porous

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, variant of porose, from Medieval Latin porōsus; pore ², -ous

Example Sentences

They’re porous defensively and have a boring, predictable offense largely consisting of alternating one-on-one isolations between their “Big Three” most every trip down the court.

From Los Angeles Times

In fact, elephant whiskers are almost blade-like, with a porous architecture similar to sheep horns, which helps with shock absorption while eating.

From Barron's

"We've got to be more open and porous and respectful of different points of view."

From BBC

To use as a metal, titanium ore has to be turned into a porous form called sponge — the U.S. imports over 95% of that.

From MarketWatch

“For Korea’s second-largest exchange to have such porous IT systems is almost unbelievable,” said Lee, a law professor at Seoul National University, referring to the lack of a robust monitoring system.

From The Wall Street Journal