piercing
Use Piercing in a sentence
sɪŋ adjective
1.
loud or shrill, as the quality of a voice.
2.
extremely cold or bitter: a piercing wind.
3.
appearing to gaze deeply or penetratingly into something: piercing eyes.
4.
perceptive or aware; acute: a piercing mind.
5.
sarcastic or caustic; cutting: piercing remarks.
00:10
Piercing
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used with object)
1.
to penetrate into or run through (something), as a sharp, pointed dagger, object, or instrument does.
2.
to make a hole or opening in.
3.
to bore into or through; tunnel.
4.
to perforate.
5.
to make (a hole, opening, etc.) by or as by boring or perforating.
6.
to make a way or path into or through: a road that pierces the dense jungle.
7.
to penetrate with the eye or mind; see into or through: She couldn't pierce his thoughts.
8.
to affect sharply with some sensation or emotion, as of cold, pain, or grief: The wind pierced her body. Her words pierced our hearts.
9.
to sound sharply through (the air, stillness, etc.): A pistol shot pierced the night.
verb (used without object)
10.
to force or make a way into or through something; penetrate: to pierce to the heart.
Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English percen < Old French perc(i)er < Vulgar Latin *pertūsiāre, verbal derivative of Latin pertūsus, past participle of pertundere to bore a hole through, perforate, equivalent to per- per- + tundere to strike, beat
1250–1300; Middle English percen < Old French perc(i)er < Vulgar Latin *pertūsiāre, verbal derivative of Latin pertūsus, past participle of pertundere to bore a hole through, perforate, equivalent to per- per- + tundere to strike, beat
Related forms
pierce·a·ble, adjective
pierc·er, noun
un·pierce·a·ble, adjective
Synonyms
1. enter, puncture. Pierce, penetrate suggest the action of one object passing through another or making a way through and into another. The terms are used both concretely and figuratively. To pierce is to perforate quickly, as by stabbing; it suggests the use of a sharp, pointed instrument which is impelled by force: to pierce the flesh with a knife; a scream pierces one's ears. Penetrate suggests a slow or difficult movement: No ordinary bullet can penetrate an elephant's hide; to penetrate the depths of one's ignorance. 8. touch, move, strike, thrill.
1. enter, puncture. Pierce, penetrate suggest the action of one object passing through another or making a way through and into another. The terms are used both concretely and figuratively. To pierce is to perforate quickly, as by stabbing; it suggests the use of a sharp, pointed instrument which is impelled by force: to pierce the flesh with a knife; a scream pierces one's ears. Penetrate suggests a slow or difficult movement: No ordinary bullet can penetrate an elephant's hide; to penetrate the depths of one's ignorance. 8. touch, move, strike, thrill.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To piercing
Collins
World English Dictionary
pierce (pɪəs) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to form or cut (a hole) in (something) with or as if with a sharp instrument |
| 2. | to thrust into or penetrate sharply or violently: the thorn pierced his heel |
| 3. | to force (a way, route, etc) through (something) |
| 4. | (of light) to shine through or penetrate (darkness) |
| 5. | (also intr) to discover or realize (something) suddenly or (of an idea) to become suddenly apparent |
| 6. | (of sounds or cries) to sound sharply through (the silence) |
| 7. | to move or affect (a person's emotions, bodily feelings, etc) deeply or sharply: the cold pierced their bones |
| 8. | (intr) to penetrate or be capable of penetrating: piercing cold |
| [C13 percen, from Old French percer, ultimately from Latin pertundere, from per through + tundere to strike] | |
| 'pierceable | |
| —adj | |
| 'piercer | |
| —n | |
| Pierce (pɪəs) | |
| —n | |
| Franklin. 1804--69, US statesman; 14th president of the US (1853--57) | |
| piercing (ˈpɪəsɪŋ) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | (of a sound) sharp and shrill |
| 2. | (of eyes or a look) intense and penetrating |
| 3. | (of an emotion) strong and deeply affecting |
| 4. | (of cold or wind) intense or biting |
| —n | |
| 5. | the art or practice of piercing body parts for the insertion of jewellery |
| 6. | an instance of the piercing of a body part |
| 'piercingly | |
| —adv | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
pierce
c.1300, from Anglo-Fr. perser, O.Fr. percier (11c.), probably from V.L. *pertusiare, freq. of L. pertusus, pp. of pertundere "to thrust or bore through," from per- "through" + tundere "to beat, pound," from PIE base *(s)tud- "to beat, strike, push, thrust" (see obtuse). Piercing
in ref. to cold, sound, etc. is recorded from early 15c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Cite This Source
Example sentences
The train blasts out a shrill whistle which my nephew imitates intermittently for the next couple of hours with piercing accuracy.
Floodlights, piercing the darkness, etch familiar landmarks in silver against a velvet sky.
The light, which became peculiarly piercing in the stillness around midnight, changes yet again.
His piercing eyes were set in a deeply creased, mahogany face.
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