pierce
See also: Pierce
English edit
Pronunciation edit
- (General American) IPA(key): /pɪɹs/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /pɪəs/
- (obsolete) IPA(key): /pɜː(ɹ)s/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)s
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English perce, from conjugated forms of Old French percier such as (jeo) pierce (“I pierce”), probably from Vulgar Latin *pertūsiō, from Latin pertūsus, past participle of pertundō (“thrust or bore through”), from per- (“through”) + tundō (“beat, pound”). Displaced native Old English þȳrlian (literally “to hole”).
Verb edit
pierce (third-person singular simple present pierces, present participle piercing, simple past and past participle pierced)
- (transitive) To puncture; to break through.
- The diver pierced the surface of the water with scarcely a splash.
- to pierce the enemy's line; a shot pierced the ship
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “Theodore and Honoria, from Boccace”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- I pierce her open back, or tender side
- (transitive) To create a hole in the skin for the purpose of inserting jewelry.
- Can you believe he pierced his tongue?
- (transitive) to break or interrupt abruptly
- A scream pierced the silence.
- (transitive, figurative) To get to the heart or crux of (a matter).
- to pierce a mystery
- (transitive, figurative) To penetrate; to affect deeply.
- 1715–1720, Homer, [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book XI”, in The Iliad of Homer, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:
- pierced with grief
- c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
- Can no prayers pierce thee?
- 2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 75:
- The flatness of the landscape facilitates views right across the Firth of Forth to Fife, before the railway begins to pierce the Edinburgh suburbs.
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
Translations edit
to pierce — see puncture
puncture
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create a hole for jewelry
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interrupt
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Etymology 2 edit
Borrowed from Japanese ピアス (piasu, “pierced earring”), itself from English pierce.
Noun edit
pierce (plural pierces)