pierce
pronunciation
How to pronounce pierce in British English:
UK [pɪəs]
How to pronounce pierce in American English:
US [pɪrs]
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- Verb:
- cut or make a way through
- move or affect (a person's emotions, bodily feelings, etc.) deeply or sharply
- sound sharply or shrilly
- penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument
- make a hole into
Word Origin
- pierce (v.)
- late 13c. "make a hole in; force one's way through," from Anglo-French perser, Old French percier "pierce, transfix, drive through" (12c., Modern French percer), probably from Vulgar Latin *pertusiare, frequentative of Latin pertusus, past participle of pertundere "to thrust or bore through," from per- "through" (see per) + tundere "to beat, pound," from PIE *tund-, from root *(s)teu- "to push, strike, knock, beat, thrust" (see obtuse). Related: Pierced; piercing.
Example
- 1. Pierce the foam rubber circle with a screw and fix it with washers from both sides .
- 2. Others dented the fuselage but thankfully did not pierce it .
- 3. Center the corer over the apple 's stem end , pierce the apple , and push the corer all the way through .
- 4. Two shards , one through the eye ( pierce his eyes through a golden cage ) , and one through the temple , lodged in the king 's head ( two wounds made one ) .
- 5. " We may eventually pierce the ' cloak ' of dark matter and detect supersymmetric particles in the lab , " dodelson said .