protrude
Americanverb (used without object)
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protrudes,
present (3rd person singular)
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protruded,
past participle, past
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protruding
present participle
verb (used with object)
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protrudes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
protruded,
past participle, past
-
protruding
present participle
verb
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to thrust or cause to thrust forwards or outwards
-
to project or cause to project from or as if from a surface
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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protrudableadjective
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protrudentadjective
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protrusibleadjective
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unprotrudedadjective
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unprotrudentadjective
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unprotrusibleadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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protrudesimple
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protrudessimple
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have protrudedperfect
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has protrudedperfect
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am protrudingprogressive
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are protrudingprogressive
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is protrudingprogressive
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have been protrudingperfect progressive
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has been protrudingperfect progressive
Past
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protrudedsimple
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had protrudedperfect
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was protrudingprogressive
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were protrudingprogressive
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had been protrudingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of protrude
First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin prōtrūdere “to thrust forward,” equivalent to prō- pro- 1 + trūdere “to thrust”
Explanation
Protrude means to stick out. A gravestone protrudes from the ground, a shelf protrudes from a wall, a lollipop stick protrudes from your mouth. From the Latin prō- "forward, out" + trūdere "to thrust," protrude often describes coastlines where rocks stick out into the water. Prō- gives us protrusion "something that sticks out," and protuberance "something that grows out of something else"––a goiter, for example, or a nose.
Vocabulary lists containing protrude
List 6
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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My Life with the Chimpanzees
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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:
A blackened mattress, a twisted bicycle, a crushed sofa and toys protrude between two stacked concrete slabs.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
His face in careful concentration, the Major-General from Ukraine's Civil Protection Service clings tightly to a precious bundle, wrapped for protection in his coat - and out of which two small pink shoes protrude.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2025
Importantly, it was able to reveal the features where many synapses dwell: the spines that protrude along the vine-like processes, or dendrites, that grow out of the neuron cell body.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2024
Large planks of charred wood protrude into the walkway to the home, and pieces of insulation fall from the damaged ceiling despite a tarp they put up to cover it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2023
Wayne Westerberg’s muddy sneakers protrude from the maw of the combine, as if the machine were in the process of swallowing him whole, an overgrown metal reptile digesting its prey.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
A tridimensional T. rex protrudes from Iñaki Godoy’s head while he holds a small plush toy of Monkey D. Luffy, the character who changed his life forever.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2026
A medium altitude rainforest, it protrudes above Mozambique’s lowlands, makes it effectively a 'sky island'.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2024
The x-ray spectrometer protrudes over the rover’s front and rotates by 90 degrees to study the material below it.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 13, 2023
A terrifying symbol of Mayon’s deadly fury is the belfry of a 16th-century Franciscan stone church which protrudes from the ground.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 19, 2023
I look for the break in the pattern, the nail that protrudes.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
The kindergarten playground, weathered from decades of brutal winters, had turned hazardous; at times, sharp screws protruded from some of the equipment, and kids routinely got splinters from the wooden crossbeams.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2023
But it was rolled out unevenly, and one end protruded past the goal post.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2023
Even more impressive was the fact that Mount Washington, by some accounts, protruded into the stratosphere — the second layer of Earth’s atmosphere.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 4, 2023
Pieces of the jacket protruded past a typical frame with stitched fabric spikes on his shoulders and the ends of darts poking out of the lapel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2022
A comb with a fountain-pen clip protruded, familiarly, from the right-hand pocket of his olive-drab shirt.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
For the hunters, a massive grey orb with a ramp protruding from it is one clue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
LONDON—A midnight-black Land Rover Defender P400 recently slid up next to some trash bags in a no-parking zone outside Harrods and nestled against the curb at an angle, its rear protruding into the street.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Their latest experiments focus on a new particle design that includes additional protruding "legs."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 15, 2026
An AFP photograph showed a red area with several brownish scabs protruding above his shirt collar on the right side of the neck of the 79-year-old president, the oldest ever elected.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
Working with his hands in the rubber gloves protruding into the cabinets, Gene Johnson took a little bit of the boy’s blood serum and dropped it into flasks that contained living cells from a monkey.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
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.
