PENETRATING • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Penetrating

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/pˈɛnətrˌeɪtɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Penetrate v. t. (past & past part. penetrated; pres. part. penetrating)

To enter into; to make way into the interior of; to effect an entrance into; to pierce; as, light penetrates darkness.

To affect profoundly through the senses or feelings; to touch with feeling; to make sensible; to move deeply; as, to penetrate one's heart with pity. "The translator of Homer should penetrate himself with a sense of the plainness and directness of Homer's style."

To pierce into by the mind; to arrive at the inner contents or meaning of, as of a mysterious or difficult subject; to comprehend; to understand. "Things which here were too subtile for us to penetrate."

Penetrate v. i. To pass; to make way; to pierce. Also used figuratively. "Preparing to penetrate to the north and west." "Born where Heaven's influence scarce can penetrate." "The sweet of life that penetrates so near."

adjective

Penetrating adj.

Having the power of entering, piercing, or pervading; sharp; subtile; penetrative; as, a penetrating odor.

Acute; discerning; sagacious; quick to discover; as, a penetrating mind.

See images of 'Penetrating'

Etymology of 'Penetrating'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Penetrating" Quotes from Famous Books

... could intimidate or abash Mrs. Judith Justitia Pimble, or Mrs. Rebecca Potentia Lawson. As for poor, insignificant Peter Pimble, he looked quite aghast with terror and astonishment at his own temerity in penetrating to a presence so imposing and sublime, and cuddled away in the most obscure corner he could find, while his majestic wife assumed a velvet-cushioned arm-chair, which ...

— Eventide - A Series of Tales and Poems • Effie Afton

... was extremely cold and penetrating, striking one almost like the malaria, and we were glad to get to the well-lighted station, and mingle with the cheerful animated crowd on the platform, and did not even feel the intrusive hotel omnibus-conductors a nuisance, but gladly consigned ...

— Fair Italy, the Riviera and Monte Carlo • W. Cope Devereux

... illuminate the darkest corner of the place when he next entered it. Fortunately the wood had remained so long and had been preserved so dry in its sheltered position, that it caught fire almost as easily as a piece of paper. The moment it was fairly aflame Gabriel went into the cavity, penetrating at once—this time—to its ...

— After Dark • Wilkie Collins

... between the slender trees, and—was it fancy?—an odd tremor went through me. I felt as if I were penetrating the temenos of some strange and lovely divinity, the goddess of this pleasant vale. There was a spell in the air, it seemed, ...

— The Moon Endureth--Tales and Fancies • John Buchan

... penetrating the staccato fragments all about her and gathering them into a whole. "Say, who's the heroine of this picture? Somebody flash me a cut-in so I can kinda follow the story. I come in in the middle of the ...

— Half Portions • Edna Ferber

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