Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To cut or pass through with or as if with a sharp instrument; stab or penetrate.
- intransitive verb To make a hole or opening in; perforate.
- intransitive verb To make a way through.
- intransitive verb To sound sharply through.
- intransitive verb To succeed in penetrating (something) with the eyes or the intellect.
- intransitive verb To penetrate into or through something.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To thrust through with a sharp or pointed instrument; stab; prick.
- To cut into or through; make a hole or opening in.
- To penetrate; enter into or through; force a way into or through: as, to
pierce the enemy's center. - To penetrate with pain, grief, or other emotion; wound or affect keenly; touch or move deeply.
- Synonyms and Perforate, Transfix, etc. See
penetrate . - To enter or penetrate; force a way.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To enter; to penetrate; to make a way into or through something, as a pointed instrument does; -- used literally and figuratively.
- transitive verb To thrust into, penetrate, or transfix, with a pointed instrument.
- transitive verb To penetrate; to enter; to force a way into or through; to pass into or through
- transitive verb Fig.: To penetrate; to affect deeply.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive to
puncture ; tobreak through - verb transitive to create a
hole in theskin for the purpose of insertingjewelry - verb transitive to
break orinterrupt abruptly
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb cut or make a way through
- verb sound sharply or shrilly
- verb penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument
- noun 14th President of the United States (1804-1869)
- verb make a hole into
- verb move or affect (a person's emotions or bodily feelings) deeply or sharply
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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July 25, 2005 at 4: 08 pm tony pierce is a Great American, so I hesitate to contradict him.
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In fact, the tenor Peter Pears pronounced his name pierce as well.
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For what Simeon foretold in the temple is come to pass today: a sword pierce my heart, but do Thou change my grief to gladness by Thy Ressurrection. '
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Rodolphe is startled; he plunge, and my sword pierce his arm.
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I think I heard the ref cry after he HAD to call pierce on that foul
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But did Eumenes 'fword pierce deep t The wound Was dcfperate. —
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I'd like to introduce "pierce", the verb, as street slang for the weekend.
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I'm not 100 certain on Peter Pears--when I was studying jazz at IU, sometimes the classical folks would remark on seeing my name, "You know, Peter Pears pronounced it 'pierce'."
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"external cause" refers to how the injury took place, although CDC uses (to this epidemiologist's eyes) at least one strange category as "cause": cut or pierce, which is an effect, not a cause.
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This may be done with what is called a "pierce"; but a good stiletto, or even a very large needle, will answer the purpose.
Comments
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