puncture
Americannoun
-
punctures
plural
-
the act of piercing or perforating, as with a pointed instrument or object.
-
a hole or mark so made.
- Synonyms:
- perforation, rupture, break
-
Zoology. a small pointlike depression.
verb (used with object)
-
punctures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
punctured,
past participle, past
-
puncturing
present participle
-
to pierce or perforate, as with a pointed instrument.
to puncture leather with an awl.
-
to make (a hole, perforation, etc.) by piercing or perforating.
He punctured a row of holes in the cardboard.
-
to make a puncture in.
A piece of glass punctured the tire.
-
to reduce or diminish as if by piercing; damage; wound.
to puncture a person's pride.
-
to cause to collapse or disintegrate; spoil; ruin.
to puncture one's dream of success.
verb (used without object)
-
punctures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
punctured,
past participle, past
-
puncturing
present participle
noun
-
a small hole made by a sharp object
-
a perforation and loss of pressure in a pneumatic tyre, made by sharp stones, glass, etc
-
the act of puncturing or perforating
verb
-
(tr) to pierce (a hole) in (something) with a sharp object
-
to cause (something pressurized, esp a tyre) to lose pressure by piercing, or (of a tyre, etc) to be pierced and collapse in this way
-
(tr) to depreciate (a person's self-esteem, pomposity, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
puncturernoun
-
nonpuncturableadjective
-
puncturableadjective
-
puncturelessadjective
-
unpuncturedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
puncturesimple
-
puncturessimple
-
have puncturedperfect
-
has puncturedperfect
-
am puncturingprogressive
-
are puncturingprogressive
-
is puncturingprogressive
-
have been puncturingperfect progressive
-
has been puncturingperfect progressive
Past
-
puncturedsimple
-
had puncturedperfect
-
was puncturingprogressive
-
were puncturingprogressive
-
had been puncturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of puncture
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin pūnctūra “a pricking,” from pūnct(us) “pierced” (past participle of pungere “to pierce”; see pungent) + -ūra -ure
Explanation
When you puncture something, you make a hole in it. Stick a pin in a balloon and you'll not only make kids cry, you'll also puncture the balloon. Use the verb puncture to describe poking a sharp object into something. You can call the hole you've made a puncture as well: get a big enough puncture in your car tire and you'll need to call for help. In Latin, punctus means "to prick or pierce." The hardest thing about puncture is knowing how to spell it — remember that there's a c in the middle, and you'll probably get it right.
Vocabulary lists containing puncture
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)
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Mississippi Trial, 1955
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Schooled
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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:
The Amazon price hikes on the older chips does puncture the argument laid out by some investors, like Michael Burry, that the company is not properly depreciating its microchip assets.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
A stinger is a portable spike strip used to puncture the tyres of a vehicle.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
First, doctors make a small puncture in an artery, usually in the groin, and feed a catheter up into the patient’s heart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Research published in Advanced Science found that this stretching method is more effective than earlier designs that attempted to puncture viruses.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 22, 2026
She put her lips down over the puncture and sucked hard and spat and sucked again while Coyotito screamed.
From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck
In the new study, researchers examined several kinds of depressions, punctures, holes, and grooves that appeared to have been left by teeth.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
Bites often leave punctures or furrows in bone, but disease, insects, weathering, and erosion can create similar features.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
But Sobel’s second point punctures some of the excitement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
I have to do more blood work, or lumbar punctures, to rule out meningitis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Mazen punctures my elation as quickly as it had ballooned.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
The only civilian in the surrounding streets is trying to fix a tire on his car, punctured by debris from the blast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
A powerful drive by Kane James punctured a hole in Bath's defence with Iosefa-Scott eventually able to pick and go for the prop's second try in two games.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Yemen relapsed into war in July after years of relative calm punctured by sporadic violence and deepening poverty.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
Comedy capers like this usually deflate in the third act when their pleasures get punctured by unfunny gunfire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
All the air went out of me as if I were a punctured balloon; all my enthusiasm vanished.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
According to the company website, the glove is designed to disrupt sensory nerves without puncturing or burning the skin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
But the cost of revenue more than doubled year over year to $272.4 million, puncturing the company’s gross margin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
That’s a program I would support, in addition to puncturing the bubble.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Newcastle will have to do so without influential defender Dan Burn, who is out for four to six weeks after breaking a rib and puncturing a lung in the derby.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025
It was slow work, puncturing the tank with a hammer and stake, then waiting for the fuel to drip out so the tank could be safely removed with a cutting torch.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
