protrude
Americanverb (used without object)
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protrudes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
protruded,
past participle, past
-
protruding
present participle
verb (used with object)
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protrudes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
protruded,
past participle, past
-
protruding
present participle
verb
-
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
Their backs are also mirrored, and hefty steel counterweights are holding up the semicircular tubes that protrude out front.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2024
His chin is pitched forward, his ears protrude and his brow is furrowed over glinting black eyes.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2023
The lights protrude from the wall, so directly beneath each one is a slit of shadow.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
Because it protrudes at a slight angle, swells approaching from the south or southwest bounce off the jetty and mutate into triangular peaks—hence the spot’s name.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Other animals on-site include a stable full of horses and Cowboy the tortoise, who is about the size of a lawnmower and whose head protrudes from what looks like a Venus flytrap made of bone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 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
I can count every rib in my rib cage, but my stomach protrudes outward, bloated like a ball between my chest and hips.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Shopping carts and car parts protruded from the water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2024
While modern dolphins are armed with a snoutful of cone-shaped teeth perfectly calibrated to snap up fish, this creature possessed several large teeth that protruded out of the end of its snout.
From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2023
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
As Albies remembered the events of the day before, two legs in white leggings, high socks and flip-flops protruded from beneath the sweatshirts and jerseys hanging in the locker next to him.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 15, 2022
A thick fog lay in the valley below, a smoldering cauldron of white from which only the treetops protruded, stark and Dantesque.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
BOROVE, Ukraine—Earlier this summer, a small crowd gathered around six freshly exhumed human skeletons protruding from the ground on the edge of a sunflower field in Ukraine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
For the hunters, a massive grey orb with a ramp protruding from it is one clue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 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
Almost spider-like he looked now, crouched back on his bent limbs, with his protruding eyes.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
