PENETRATION

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does penetration mean? 

• PENETRATION (noun)
  The noun PENETRATION has 6 senses:

1. an attack that penetrates into enemy territory

2. clear or deep perception of a situation

3. the act of entering into or through something

4. the ability to make way into or through something

5. the depth to which something penetrates (especially the depth reached by a projectile that hits a target)

6. the act (by a man) of inserting his penis into the vagina of a woman

  Familiarity information: PENETRATION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PENETRATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An attack that penetrates into enemy territory

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

incursion; penetration

Hypernyms ("penetration" is a kind of...):

attack; onrush; onset; onslaught ((military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "penetration"):

interpenetration (the action of penetrating between or among)

breakthrough (a penetration of a barrier such as an enemy's defense)

invasion (the act of invading; the act of an army that invades for conquest or plunder)

infiltration (a process in which individuals (or small groups) penetrate an area (especially the military penetration of enemy positions without detection))

foray; maraud; raid (a sudden short attack)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Clear or deep perception of a situation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

insight; penetration

Hypernyms ("penetration" is a kind of...):

perception (knowledge gained by perceiving)

Derivation:

penetrate (come to understand)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of entering into or through something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the penetration of upper management by women

Hypernyms ("penetration" is a kind of...):

entering; entrance; entry; incoming; ingress (the act of entering)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "penetration"):

interpenetration; permeation (mutual penetration; diffusion of each through the other)

market penetration (the extent to which a product is recognized and bought by customers in a particular market)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The ability to make way into or through something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the greater penetration of the new projectiles will result in greater injuries

Hypernyms ("penetration" is a kind of...):

ability (the quality of being able to perform; a quality that permits or facilitates achievement or accomplishment)

Derivation:

penetrate (make one's way deeper into or through)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The depth to which something penetrates (especially the depth reached by a projectile that hits a target)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("penetration" is a kind of...):

deepness; depth (the extent downward or backward or inward)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The act (by a man) of inserting his penis into the vagina of a woman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("penetration" is a kind of...):

carnal knowledge; coition; coitus; copulation; intercourse; relation; sex act; sexual congress; sexual intercourse; sexual relation (sexual activity between individuals, especially the insertion of a man's penis into a woman's vagina until orgasm and ejaculation occur)

Derivation:

penetrate (insert the penis into the vagina or anus of)

 Context examples 

The peaceful penetration of Maple White Land was the pressing subject before us.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Compared to other generations of epothilones, iso-fludelone exhibits increased stability, water solubility, potency, duration of action, tumor penetration as well as reduced toxicity.

(Iso-fludelone, NCI Thesaurus)

Compared to first-generation epothilones, this agent exhibits greater safety and efficacy with an enhanced pharmaceutical profile, including enhanced water solubility and tumor penetration, and reduced CNS exposure.

(Epothilone KOS-1584, NCI Thesaurus)

The process of penetration of a substance into a living organism.

(Biological Absorption, NCI Thesaurus)

Invasive carcinoma is the penetration of malignant cells through the basement membrane into the surrounding stromal.

(Carcinoma of the Mouse Prostate Gland, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

Liposomal delivery of lurtotecan improves its penetration and delivery into tumors while lowering systemic side effects.

(Lurtotecan Liposome, NCI Thesaurus)

Liposomal delivery of doxorubicin improves drug penetration into tumors and decreases drug clearance, thereby increasing the duration of therapeutic drug effects while lowering the toxicity profile.

(Liposome-encapsulated doxorubicin citrate, NCI Thesaurus)

Liposomal delivery of doxorubicin citrate improves drug penetration into tumors and decreases drug clearance, thereby increasing the duration of therapeutic drug effects.

(Liposomal Daunorubicin Citrate, NCI Thesaurus)

It was this which had given poise and penetration to her own work and made her of worth to the world.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

In addition, liposomal delivery of docetaxel improves drug penetration into tumors and decreases drug clearance, thereby increasing the duration of therapeutic drug effects while lowering the toxicity profile.

(Liposomal Docetaxel, NCI Thesaurus)