Meaning

5 senses
  1. (transitive)To puncture; to break through.

    The diver pierced the surface of the water with scarcely a splash.

    to pierce the enemy's line

    durchstechen, lochen

    протыка́тьprotykátʹ, проткну́тьprotknútʹ, прока́лыватьprokályvatʹ

    cut or make a way through

  2. (transitive)To create a hole in the skin for the purpose of inserting jewelry.

    Can you believe he pierced his tongue?

    piercen

    прока́лыватьprokályvatʹ, проколо́тьprokolótʹ, протыка́тьprotykátʹ

  3. (transitive)To break or interrupt abruptly

    A dreadful scream pierced the silence.

    прерыва́тьpreryvátʹ

  4. (figuratively, transitive)To get to the heart or crux of (a matter).

    to pierce a mystery

  5. (figuratively, transitive)To penetrate; to affect deeply.

    A stab of fear pierced my heart.

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

Examples

146 sentences
  1. Tom got his tongue pierced.

    Том зробили пірсінг язика. — deniko

    ruТом сделал пирсинг языка. — odexed

    deTom hat sich ein Zungenpiercing machen lassen. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

  2. I have a pierced ear.

    У мене проколоте вухо. — deniko

    ruУ меня проколото ухо. — marafon

  3. Tom got his left ear pierced.

    ruТом проколол себе левое ухо. — marafon

  4. Can I get my ears pierced?

    ruМожно мне проколоть уши? — Wezel

  5. Mary got her belly button pierced.

Translations

8 languages
Русский
By meaning 2
to puncture — see also puncture, perforate:
interrupt:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
to puncture — see also puncture, perforate:
create a hole for jewelry:

Origin

From Middle English perce, from conjugated forms of Old French percier such as (jeo) pierc

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”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

pierces, piercing, pierced, pierced
Base formpierce · to pierce
3rd person singularpierces
Present participlepiercing
Past simplepierced
Past participlepierced

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theypierce
he, she, itpierces

Past simpleLesson

all personspierced

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave pierced
he, she, ithas pierced

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill pierce

Synonyms

2 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument:thrust

Word family

13 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
pierce — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto