penetrate
verb
pen·e·trate
| \ ˈpe-nə-ˌtrāt
\
\
penetrated;
penetrating
Definition of penetrate
1a
: to pass into or through
this route … penetrates the leading resort and lake areas — American Guide Series: Minnesota Only a dirt road penetrates the rough, wooded terrain.
b
: to enter by overcoming resistance : pierce
This bullet can penetrate armor.
c
: to gain entrance to
an apartment that I now penetrated for the first time— Osbert Lancaster
2a
: to see into or through
their keen eyes can penetrate the water to a depth of … forty feet— L. K. Porritt
b
: to discover the inner contents or meaning of
a scientific secret which will eventually be penetrated by other countries— Vera M. Dean
3
: to affect profoundly with feeling
men may still be penetrated with awe by the divine righteousness— R. W. Dale
4
: to diffuse through or into
the cold began to penetrate his bones— E. K. Gann
1a
: to pass, extend, pierce, or diffuse into or through something
fishes … which enter tidal rivers and penetrate almost to fresh water— J. L. B. Smith
b
: to pierce something with the eye or mind
strained his eyes to penetrate beyond the thick cloud of dust insight that penetrates to the very heart of some … problem— W. F. Hambly
2
: to affect deeply the senses or feelings
the suggestion might penetrate deeply enough … to make her a good deal more wary— H. A. Overstreet
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Examples of penetrate in a Sentence
These bullets can penetrate armor.
radiation penetrating the Earth's atmosphere
The bullet failed to penetrate.
The heat penetrated through the wall.
The roots of these plants have been known to penetrate to a depth of more than 15 feet.
My car's headlights couldn't penetrate the dense fog.
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Recent Examples on the Web
Imagine a dense rainforest, really dark and wet, with no sunlight penetrating to the lower canopy. — Kate Evans, National Geographic, "Ancient farmers burned the Amazon, but today's fires are very different," 5 Sep. 2019 Hackers increasingly infiltrate large corporations by first penetrating the defences of smaller suppliers and piggybacking on the communications systems which link the two. — The Economist, "The Exxon Valdez of cyberspace," 8 Aug. 2019 Thin layers of metal screen stretched across vents can keep embers from penetrating a combustible attic. — Hal Bernton, The Seattle Times, "As wildfire risk grows west of Cascades, homeowners urged to better protect their homes," 30 July 2019 Von Braun peppered him with penetrating equipment questions. — Brandon R. Brown, Smithsonian, "Apollo Engineers Discuss What It Took to Land on the Moon," 12 July 2019 Almost all the bullet’s force had been spent in penetrating the M1. — David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, "The Century-Long Evolution of the U.S. Army Helmet," 27 June 2019 Iran showed deep interest in penetrating a range of U.S. critical infrastructure before a sort of detente was achieved around the time of the 2015 nuclear agreement, FireEye’s Mr. Hultquist said. — Dustin Volz, WSJ, "Iran Tensions Could Prompt Cyberattacks, U.S. Fears," 21 June 2019 Per the feedback, pushing the line back will make the lane more available for penetrating off the dribble. — Mark Heim | [email protected], al.com, "NCAA moving back 3-point line for next season, tweaks shot clock rule," 5 June 2019 Further punctuating the moment, Israel said that a drone launched from Syria was shot down Wednesday after penetrating several miles into Israeli airspace. — Dina Kraft, The Christian Science Monitor, "Syrian civil war, on Israel's doorstep, brings swirl of changing attitudes," 11 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'penetrate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for penetrate
penetrate
verb
English Language Learners Definition of penetrate
: to go through or into something
: to see or show the way through (something)
: to succeed in becoming part of (an organization, a community, etc.)
See the full definition for penetrate in the English Language Learners Dictionary
penetrate
verb
pen·e·trate
| \ ˈpe-nə-ˌtrāt
\
\
penetrated;
penetrating
Kids Definition of penetrate
1
: to pass into or through
A nail penetrated the tire. But his voice was not strong enough to penetrate the thick wall.— E. B. White, Stuart Little
2
: to see into or through
My eyes couldn't penetrate the darkness.
penetrate
verb
pen·e·trate
| \ ˈpen-ə-ˌtrāt
\
\
penetrated;
penet