Library / English Dictionary

PIERCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

Franklin Pierce; Pierce; President Pierce

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

Chief Executive; President; President of the United States; United States President (the person who holds the office of head of state of the United States government)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a hole into

Example:

The needle pierced her flesh

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "pierce" is one way to...):

penetrate; perforate (pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance)

"Pierce" entails doing...:

cut (separate with or as if with an instrument)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pierce"):

poke (make a hole by poking)

puncture (pierce with a pointed object; make a hole into)

riddle (pierce with many holes)

prick; prickle (make a small hole into, as with a needle or a thorn)

bite (penetrate or cut, as with a knife)

perforate; punch (make a hole into or between, as for ease of separation)

bite; prick; sting (deliver a sting to)

tap (pierce in order to draw a liquid from)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument

Synonyms:

pierce; thrust

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "pierce" is one way to...):

penetrate; perforate (pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pierce"):

lance (pierce with a lance, as in a knights' fight)

gore (wound by piercing with a sharp or penetrating object or instrument)

horn; tusk (stab or pierce with a horn or tusk)

empale; impale; spike; transfix (pierce with a sharp stake or point)

center punch (make a small hole in something as a guide for a drill)

peg (pierce with a wooden pin or knock or thrust a wooden pin into)

stick (pierce with a thrust using a pointed instrument)

stick (pierce or penetrate or puncture with something pointed)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cut or make a way through

Example:

Light pierced through the forest

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "pierce" is one way to...):

penetrate; perforate (pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pierce"):

break up; pick (attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move or affect (a person's emotions or bodily feelings) deeply or sharply

Example:

Her words pierced the students

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "pierce" is one way to...):

affect; impress; move; strike (have an emotional or cognitive impact upon)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 5

Meaning:

Sound sharply or shrilly

Example:

The scream pierced the night

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "pierce" is one way to...):

sound (give off a certain sound or sounds)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

I love an ash arrow pierced with cornel-wood for a roving shaft.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was still quite early, and the coldest morning that I think I ever was abroad in—a chill that pierced into the marrow.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Famously, species of tit learned how to pierce milk bottle lids and siphon the cream during the middle of last century – a phenomenon that spread rapidly through flocks across the UK.

(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)

He spoke often to me; but the sound of his voice pierced my ears like that of a water-mill, yet his words were articulate enough.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

You coward!’ Those were scraps of her conversation, ending in a sudden dreadful cry in the man’s voice, with a crash, and a piercing scream from the woman.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

SOFIA's infrared camera called FORCAST, the Faint Object Infrared Camera for the SOFIA Telescope, however, can pierce through these cocoons.

(SOFIA Reveals How the Swan Nebula Hatched, NASA)

Forceful administration into a muscle of liquid medication, nutrient, or other fluid through a hollow needle piercing the muscle and any tissue covering it.

(Intramuscular Route of Administration, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A coded value specifying the type of container cap. NOTE(S): In some cases, it is important for this to be consistent with decapping, piercing or other automated manipulation.

(Package Cap Type Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

With an open, or penetrating, injury, an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue.

(Head Injuries, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

The practice of piercing specific points on the body with very thin sterile needles in order to relieve pain or induce regional anesthesia.

(Acupuncture Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)