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Definition of piercing - 5 dictionary results
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pierc⋅ing

  [peer-sing]
Use piercing in a Sentence
–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.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME; see pierce, -ing 2

Related forms:
pierc⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
pierc⋅ing⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. grating, strident, screeching.
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pierce

  [peers] verb, pierced, pierc⋅ing.
–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; ME percen < OF perc(i)er < VL *pertūsiāre, v. deriv. of L pertūsus, ptp. of pertundere to bore a hole through, perforate, equiv. to per- per- + tundere to strike, beat

Related forms:
pierce⋅a⋅ble, adjective
piercer, noun

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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To piercing
pierce   (pîrs)   
v.   pierced, pierc·ing, pierc·es

v.   tr.

  1. To cut or pass through with or as if with a sharp instrument; stab or penetrate.

  2. To make a hole or opening in; perforate.

  3. To make a way through: The path pierced the wilderness.

  4. To sound sharply through: His shout pierced the din.

  5. To succeed in penetrating (something) with the eyes or the intellect: Large glowing yellow eyes pierced the darkness.

v.   intr.
To penetrate into or through something: The rocket pierced through space.

[Middle English percen, from Old French percer, probably from Vulgar Latin *pertūsiāre, from Latin pertūsus, past participle of pertundere, to bore through : per-, per- + tundere, to beat.]
pierc'er n., pierc'ing adj., pierc'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

pierce 
1297, 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." Piercing in ref. to cold, sound, etc. is recorded from 1423.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: pierce
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: pierced; pierc·ing
: to see through the usually misleading or false appearance of pierce the pleadings and allow a judgment on the merits —J. H. Friedenthal et al.> pierce the plain meaning of the agreement —W. M. McGovern, Junior et al.>—pierce the corporate veil : to disregard the corporate entity and reach the personal assets of the corporation's controlling parties : hold the controlling parties (as officers or shareholders) of a corporation personally liable for wrongful acts or debts of the corporation pierce the corporate veil solely on grounds of inadequate capitalization —Railroad C. Clark> —compare corporate immunity at IMMUNITY
NOTE: An action to pierce the corporate veil is usually grounded on the corporation's being an instrumentality or alter ego of the officers or shareholders and on some misuse (as fraud) of the officers' or shareholders' control over the corporation.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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