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
-
had protrudedperfect
-
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
Boxes labelled with western logos like New Balance and Clarks protrude from this shop's packed shelves.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
In a canyon overlooking Paradise Cove, melted steel beams protrude from a concrete foundation that survived Woolsey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
If there is a weak spot between the abdominal muscles, internal organs might start to protrude through the gap, causing a hernia.
From New York Times ● Oct. 30, 2023
I put on my mask; the sunbird feathers protrude over my hair like ram horns.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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
His red beard protrudes from bright white makeup contoured with yellow and green pigment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
Looking over at him, I notice his flushed cheeks and rabbity eyes, his droopy brown mustache and bristly eyebrows, the stomach that protrudes from the bottom of his vest like a barely hidden balloon.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
In the distance, the bare skeletons of trees that were drowned a century ago protruded from the lake bed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2024
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
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
A lone pink flip-flop protruded from under its silky material.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2022
A thick seal of crimson wax had been broken, and part of a folded paper protruded invitingly.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
In England, the exhaust hoses of portable air conditioners protruding from windows are an increasingly common sight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
“Mind the points,” Flod cautions, as I maneuver around an oversize papier-mache mask covered in protruding footlong spikes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
Their latest experiments focus on a new particle design that includes additional protruding "legs."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 15, 2026
They used the dental report and images to create the shape of the man's lower face and mouth, identifying that he had protruding teeth and a left-sided cross bite.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2026
An Yi and I leaned forward to hear the boy with protruding ears in the row in front of us.
From "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-li Jiang
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.
