pierce - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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”).

pierce (third-person singular simple present pierces, present participle piercing, simple past and past participle pierced)

  1. (transitive) To puncture; to break through.
    Synonym: transfix
    The diver pierced the surface of the water with scarcely a splash.
    to pierce the enemy's line; a shot pierced the ship
    • 1926, A[rthur] [S]tanley Eddington, “Survey of the Problem”, in The Internal Constitution of the Stars, page 1:
      What appliance can pierce through the outer layers of a star and test the conditions within?
  2. (transitive) To create a hole in the skin for the purpose of inserting jewelry.
    Can you believe he pierced his tongue?
  3. (transitive) to break or interrupt abruptly
    A dreadful scream pierced the silence.
  4. (transitive, figurative) To get to the heart or crux of (a matter).
    to pierce a mystery
  5. (transitive, figurative) To penetrate; to affect deeply.
    A stab of fear pierced my heart.
    .
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
      Can no prayers pierce thee?
    • 2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 75:
      The flatness of the landscape facilitates views right across the Firth of Forth to Fife, before the railway begins to pierce the Edinburgh suburbs.

create a hole for jewelry — see also punch

interrupt

Borrowed from Japanese ピアス (piasu, “pierced earring”), itself from English pierce.

pierce (plural pierces)

  1. (Japan) A pierced earring.