Link Centre Dictionary

pierce

UK/piɹs/ US/pɪɹs/ common
verb (5) noun (1)

verb

1.

cut or make a way through

  • “the knife cut through the flesh”
  • “The path pierced the jungle”
  • “Light pierced through the forest”
2.

move or affect (a person''s emotions, bodily feelings, etc.) deeply or sharply

  • “The cold pierced her bones”
  • “Her words pierced the students”
3.

sound sharply or shrilly

  • “The scream pierced the night”
4.
5.

make a hole into

  • “The needle pierced her flesh”

noun

1.

14th President of the United States (1804-1869)

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English perce, from conjugated forms of Old French percier such as (jeo) pierce (“I pierce”), probably from Vulgar Latin *pertūsiō, from Latin pertūsus, past participle of pertundō (“thrust or bore through”), from per- (“through”) + tundō (“beat, pound”). Displaced native Old English þȳrlian (literally “to hole”).

Phrases

  • armor-piercing shot
  • Fort Pierce
  • Pierce County

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.