po·rous

[pawr-uhs, pohr-]
adjective
1.
full of pores.
2.
permeable by water, air, etc.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English, variant of porose < Medieval Latin porōsus. See pore2, -ous

po·rous·ly, adverb
po·rous·ness, noun
non·po·rous, adjective
non·po·rous·ness, noun
un·po·rous, adjective
un·po·rous·ness, noun


2. penetrable, pervious, sievelike, riddled.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To porous
00:10
Porous is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
Collins
World English Dictionary
porous (ˈpɔːrəs) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  permeable to water, air, or other fluids
2.  biology, geology having pores; poriferous
3.  easy to cross or penetrate: the porous border into Thailand; the most porous defence in the league
 
[C14: from Medieval Latin porōsus, from Late Latin poruspore²]
 
'porously
 
adv
 
'porousness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

porous
late 14c., "full of pores," from M.Fr. poreux (14c.), M.L. porosus, from L. porus "opening" (see pore (n.)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

porous po·rous (pôr'əs)
adj.

  1. Full of or having pores.

  2. Admitting the passage of gas or liquid through pores.


po'rous·ness n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Science Dictionary
porous   (pôr'əs)  Pronunciation Key 
Having many pores or other small spaces that can hold a gas or liquid or allow it to pass through.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Don't even try to close the holes in a country, and a society, designed to be
  porous.
Capital controls provide some breathing room, but they are porous and often
  impose many other costs on the economy.
The metal is porous and rough, and until it gains a patina from use it is the
  opposite of nonstick.
But the boundaries between the two jobs can get pretty porous.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT