pierce

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To cut or pass through with or as if with a sharp instrument; stab or penetrate.
2. v. To make a hole or opening in; perforate.
3. v. To make a way through: The path pierced the wilderness.
4. v. To sound sharply through: His shout pierced the din.
5. v. To succeed in penetrating (something) with the eyes or the intellect: Large glowing yellow eyes pierced the darkness.
6. v. To penetrate into or through something: The rocket pierced through space.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To thrust through with a sharp or pointed instrument; stab; prick.
2. To cut into or through; make a hole or opening in.
3. To penetrate; enter into or through; force a way into or through: as, to pierce the enemy's center.
4. To penetrate with pain, grief, or other emotion; wound or affect keenly; touch or move deeply.
5. Synonyms and Perforate, Transfix, etc. See penetrate.
6. To enter or penetrate; force a way.

Wiktionary

1. v. to puncture; to break through
2. v. to create a hole in the skin for the purpose of inserting jewelry
3. v. to break or interrupt abruptly

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To thrust into, penetrate, or transfix, with a pointed instrument.
2. v. To penetrate; to enter; to force a way into or through; to pass into or through
3. v. Fig.: To penetrate; to affect deeply.
4. v. To enter; to penetrate; to make a way into or through something, as a pointed instrument does; -- used literally and figuratively.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. cut or make a way through
2. v. sound sharply or shrilly
3. v. penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument
4. n. 14th President of the United States (1804-1869)
5. v. make a hole into
6. v. move or affect (a person's emotions or bodily feelings) deeply or sharply