Penetrate

//ˈpɛnɪtɹeɪt// verb

verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To enter into; to make way into the interior of; to pierce.

    "Light penetrates darkness."

  2. 2
    become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions wordnet
  3. 3
    To achieve understanding of, despite some obstacle; to comprehend; to understand. figuratively

    "I could not penetrate Burke's opaque rhetoric."

  4. 4
    come to understand wordnet
  5. 5
    To affect profoundly through the senses or feelings; to move deeply.

    "to penetrate one's heart with pity"

Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance wordnet
  2. 7
    To infiltrate an enemy to gather intelligence.
  3. 8
    spread or diffuse through wordnet
  4. 9
    To insert the penis into an orifice, such as a vagina, mouth, or anus.

    "a male elephant comes up and penetrates the female"

  5. 10
    insert the penis into the vagina or anus of wordnet
  6. 11
    To move a piece past the defending pieces of one's opponent.
  7. 12
    make one's way deeper into or through wordnet
  8. 13
    enter a group or organization in order to spy on the members wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
infiltratepermeaterutshagtupaffect

Example

More examples

"Microwaves penetrate the food in the oven."

Etymology

From Latin penētrātus, perfect passive participle of penētrō (“to put, set, or place within, enter, pierce, penetrate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from penes (“within, with”) by analogy to intrō (“to go in, enter”). Compare French pénétrer.

Related phrases

penetrating fluidpenetrating oil

More for "penetrate"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.