PERFORATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does perforate mean? 

• PERFORATE (adjective)
  The adjective PERFORATE has 1 sense:

1. having a hole cut through

  Familiarity information: PERFORATE used as an adjective is very rare.

• PERFORATE (verb)
  The verb PERFORATE has 2 senses:

1. make a hole into or between, as for ease of separation

2. pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance

  Familiarity information: PERFORATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERFORATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having a hole cut through

Synonyms:

perforate; perforated; pierced; punctured

Context example:

a punctured balloon

Similar:

cut (separated into parts or laid open or penetrated with a sharp edge or instrument)

• PERFORATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they perforate    ... he / she / it perforates   
Past simple: perforated   
Past participle: perforated   
-ing form: perforating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a hole into or between, as for ease of separation

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

perforate; punch

Context example:

perforate the sheets of paper

Hypernyms (to "perforate" is one way to...):

pierce (make a hole into)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

perforation (the act of punching a hole (especially a row of holes as for ease of separation))

perforation (a line of small holes for tearing at a particular place)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

penetrate; perforate

Context example:

The bullet penetrated her chest

Hypernyms (to "perforate" is one way to...):

come in; enter; get in; get into; go in; go into; move into (to come or go into)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "perforate"):

honeycomb (penetrate thoroughly and into every part)

ooze through (run slowly and gradually)

force; storm (take by force)

immerse; plunge (thrust or throw into)

grain; ingrain (thoroughly work in)

filter; percolate; permeate; sink in (pass through)

tunnel (force a way through)

pierce (cut or make a way through)

pierce; thrust (penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument)

pierce (make a hole into)

dig into; poke into; probe (examine physically with or as if with a probe)

diffuse; imbue; interpenetrate; penetrate; permeate; pervade; riddle (spread or diffuse through)

creep in; sneak in (enter surreptitiously)

poke into (enter briefly)

foray (briefly enter enemy territory)

break (pierce or penetrate)

strike (pierce with force)

interpenetrate; permeate (penetrate mutually or be interlocked)

cut (penetrate injuriously)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

perforation (a hole made in something)

 Context examples 

The deepest and most prominent groove on the lateral surface of the brain beginning at the anterior perforated substance that runs back and slightly upwards.

(Fissure of Sylvius, NCI Thesaurus)

It is also called the perforating fasciculus.

(Perforant Pathway, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A thin sheet of rubber that is fitted over the mouth and perforated to expose certain teeth that acts as a moisture barrier during dental procedures.

(Dental Dam, NCI Thesaurus)

Moreover, ancient V-perforated buttons, needles, and even pieces of fabric from the clothes were discovered during the excavations.

(Hair was dyed for first time as part of funeral rituals, University of Granada)

The front was, as I had once seen it in a dream, but a well-like wall, very high and very fragile-looking, perforated with paneless windows: no roof, no battlements, no chimneys—all had crashed in.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It may lead to numerous complications, such as pseudomediastinum (air trapped in the chest between both lungs), perforation of the tympanic membrane (perforated eardrum), and even rupture of a cerebral aneurysm (ballooning blood vessel in the brain), they explain.

(Blocking A Sneeze, Man Ruptures Throat, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A pathway of fibers originating in the lateral part of the entorhinal area, perforating the subiculum of the hippocampus, and running into the stratum moleculare of the hippocampus, where these fibers synapse with others that go to the dentate gyrus.

(Perforant Pathway, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)