penetrate
English
Etymology
From Latin penetratus, past participle of penetrare (“to put, set, or place within, enter, pierce, penetrate”), from penes (“within, with”) + -trare (as in intrare (“to go in, enter”), from intra (“within”)).
Pronunciation
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Audio (US) (file)
Verb
penetrate (third-person singular simple present penetrates, present participle penetrating, simple past and past participle penetrated)
- Manage to enter into.
- 1879, Th Du Moncel, The Telephone, the Microphone and the Phonograph, Harper, page 166:
- He takes the prepared charcoal used by artists, brings it to a white heat, and suddenly plunges it in a bath of mercury, of which the globules instantly penetrate the pores of charcoal, and may be said to metallize it.
- 1879, Th Du Moncel, The Telephone, the Microphone and the Phonograph, Harper, page 166:
- (figuratively) To achieve understanding despite (some obstacle thereto).
- I could not penetrate Burke's opaque rhetoric.
- To insert a penis into an opening, such as a vagina or anus.
- To infiltrate the enemy to gather intelligence.
Derived terms
Translations
manage to get through
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insert a penis into an opening, such as a vagina
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
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External links
- penetrate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- penetrate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- penetrate at OneLook Dictionary Search
Esperanto
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Verb
penetrate
- second-person plural present indicative of penetrare
- second-person plural imperative of penetrare
- Feminine plural of penetrato