Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To spread or flow throughout; pervade: "Our thinking is permeated by our historical myths” ( Freeman J. Dyson). See Synonyms at charge.
- v. To pass through the openings or interstices of: liquid permeating a membrane.
- v. To spread through or penetrate something.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To pass into or through without rupture or displacement of parts; spread through and fill the openings, pores, and interstices of; hence, to saturate; pervade: as, water permeates sand; the air was permeated with smoke.
Wiktionary
- v. To pass through the pores or interstices of; to penetrate and pass through without causing rupture or displacement; -- applied especially to fluids which pass through substances of loose texture; as, water permeates sand.
- v. To enter and spread through; to pervade.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To pass through the pores or interstices of; to penetrate and pass through without causing rupture or displacement; -- applied especially to fluids which pass through substances of loose texture.
- v. To enter and spread through; to pervade.
WordNet 3.0
- v. pass through
- v. penetrate mutually or be interlocked
- v. spread or diffuse through
Etymologies
- Latin permeāre, permeāt-, to penetrate : per-, through; see per- + meāre, to pass; see mei-1 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“The permeate is processed to remove the lactose, which is used to create ethanol.”
“Quoting experts who have clear political biases, speculating about how one's theology would influence their public policy and poor use of important labels permeate the coverage of Palin.”
“Metaphors permeate our emotional lives so deeply that "permeate" might be the wrong word; from one perspective, they're what those lives consist of, and bad ones land us in trouble.”
The Guardian: This column will change your life: Sealing off worries
“Mr. GARZA: We have a big record collection, and you know, the sounds kind of permeate every corner of the globe.”
“He encouraged the students to "permeate" themselves with "the full spirit of the age" if they hoped to give architecture "true art forms.”
“Does this act of hypocrisy "permeate" the red-state electorate?”
“The feeling of loss is one that can easily permeate throughout all areas of your life.”
“To create those noxious odors would mean it would be too intense at the source and permeate the whole valley, company project manager Mark Patton says.”
“Vampires don't do much for me, in any case, as I'm not a fan of submission games or any of that "My Master" subtext that seems to permeate the genre.”
“The powerful menthol fumes from the Vicks hardly masked the sickening reek of death in the old warehouse, that seemed to permeate every olfactory nerve in my body.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘permeate’.
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These Verbs Are Made of Meat
baconize, baconise, meatpacking, permeate, hambone hambone h..., spam, fillet, shank, mince, beef, chine, flank and 28 more...
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Victorious Verbs
exudate, agglutinate, permeate, penetrate, attenuate, aggregate, emaciate, concatenate, exonerate, castigate, promulgate, obstinate and 2 more...
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phil vocab 3
genocide, superfluous, warfare, indissoluble, sentient, confound, pernicious, dispose, render, amiable, paradox, puritanical and 36 more...
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