pierce
[verb]
Synonyms: penetrate, bore, drill, enter, perforate, prick, puncture, spike, stab, stick into

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Related Words: penetrate, perforate, run through

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English Thesaurus: dig, make a hole, burrow, plough, excavate, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

Pierce, Franklin
(1804–1869) the fourteenth president of the US, from 1853 to 1857

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

pierce /pɪəs $ pɪrs/ verb
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: percer, probably from Latin pertundere 'to make a hole through']

1. [transitive] to make a small hole in or through something, using an object with a sharp point:
Steam the corn until it can easily be pierced with a fork.
Rose underwent emergency surgery after a bullet pierced her lung.
pierce a hole in/through something
Pierce small holes in the base of the pot with a hot needle.

2. have your ears/nose etc pierced to have a small hole made in your ears, nose etc so that you can wear jewellery through the hole:
I had my belly-button pierced.
pierced ears

3. [intransitive, transitive always + adverb/preposition] literary if sound or light pierces something, you suddenly hear or see it:
The darkness was pierced by the beam from the lighthouse.
A sudden scream pierced the silence.
pierce through
The men’s lanterns pierced through the dense mist.

4. pierce sb’s heart to make someone feel a strong emotion such as pain, sadness, or love:
Her memories sometimes pierced her heart.

5. [transitive] to force a way through something:
Leicester rarely threatened to pierce the Manchester United defence.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

dig to make a hole in the ground using your hands, a tool, or a machine:
Some workmen were digging a trench at the side of the road.
In Africa, the people know where to dig for water.
make a hole to dig a hole in the ground, using your hands or a tool:
Make a hole just big enough for the plant’s roots.
burrow /ˈbʌrəʊ $ ˈbɜːroʊ/ if an animal burrows, it makes a hole or a passage in the ground by digging the earth with its feet, nose etc:
The rabbits had burrowed a hole under the fence.
plough British English, plow American English /plaʊ/ to turn over the soil using a machine or a tool pulled by animals, to prepare the soil for planting seeds:
The farmers here still plough their fields using buffaloes.
excavate /ˈekskəveɪt/ formal to dig a large hole in the ground, especially as a preparation for building something:
The men began excavating the hole for the pool.
bore to make a deep round hole in the ground using a special machine, especially in order to look for oil or water:
Companies need a special licence to bore for oil.
make a hole in something to cause a hole to appear in something:
Make a hole in the bottom of the can using a hammer and nail.
pierce to make a small hole in or through something, using a pointed object:
The dog's teeth had pierced her skin.
Shelley wanted to have her ears pierced (=for earrings).
prick to make a very small hole in the surface of something, using a pointed object:
Prick the potatoes before baking them.
My finger was bleeding where the needle had pricked it.
punch to make a hole through paper or flat material using a metal tool or other sharp object:
I bought one of those things for punching holes in paper.
You have to get your ticket punched before you get on the train.
puncture to make a small hole in something, especially something where skin or a wall surrounds a softer or hollow inside part:
The bullet had punctured his lung.
perforate formal to make a hole or holes in something:
Fragments of the bullet had perforated his intestines.
drill to make a hole using a special tool, often one which turns round and round very quickly:
The dentist started drilling a hole in my tooth.
They won a contract to drill for oil in the area.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

hit to hit someone quickly and hard with your hand, a stick etc:
He hit him hard in the stomach.
I don’t like to see people hitting a dog.
beat to hit someone deliberately many times, especially very hard:
The girl had been beaten to death.
He was beating the donkey with a stick.
strike written to hit someone with your hand or a weapon. Strike is more formal than hit and is mainly used in written English:
Her husband struck her twice across the face.
Police say that the man had been struck on the head.
punch to hit someone hard with your closed hand, especially in a fight:
I punched him on the nose.
She was screaming and punching him with her fists.
thump /θʌmp/ informal to punch someone very hard:
Sometimes I just want to thump him.
beat somebody up to hurt someone badly in a violent attack, by hitting them many times:
If I tell the police, they'll beat me up.
He had been beaten up and tortured with lighted cigarettes.
slap to hit someone with your open hand, especially because you are angry with them:
They had a big row and she ended up slapping him.
spank (also smack especially British English) to hit someone, especially a child, with your open hand in order to punish them:
Should a parent ever smack a child?
I don’t agree with smacking.
In those days, children were spanked if they behaved badly.
throw a punch (=try to hit someone)
Rob was so angry that he turned round and threw a punch at the man.
land a punch (=manage to hit someone)
Then I began to land some good punches.
give somebody a punch
He gave me a punch on the nose.
deliver a punch formal (=hit someone)
Who actually delivered the punch that killed the man?
take a punch (=be hit, or deal well with being hit)
I took a lot of punches but I gave a lot too.
a hard/powerful punch
My stomach took a couple of hard punches.
a good punch
Tyson landed one good punch but it wasn’t enough.
a knockout punch (=a blow that knocks someone down so that they cannot get up again)
In the fourth round, Lewis produced a knockout punch that ended the fight.
make a hole in something to cause a hole to appear in something:
Make a hole in the bottom of the can using a hammer and nail.
pierce to make a small hole in or through something, using a pointed object:
The dog's teeth had pierced her skin.
Shelley wanted to have her ears pierced (=for earrings).
prick to make a very small hole in the surface of something, using a pointed object:
Prick the potatoes before baking them.
My finger was bleeding where the needle had pricked it.
puncture to make a small hole in something, especially something where skin or a wall surrounds a softer or hollow inside part:
The bullet had punctured his lung.
perforate formal to make a hole or holes in something:
Fragments of the bullet had perforated his intestines.
drill to make a hole using a special tool, often one which turns round and round very quickly:
The dentist started drilling a hole in my tooth.
They won a contract to drill for oil in the area.
bore to make a deep round hole through a rock, into the ground etc:
They had to bore through solid rock.
The men were boring a hole for the tunnel.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

hole an empty space in the surface of something, which sometimes goes all the way through it:
A fox had dug a hole under our fence.
Rain was coming in through a hole in the roof.
space an empty area between two things, into which you can put something:
Are there any empty spaces on the bookshelf?
a parking space
gap an empty area between two things or two parts of something, especially one that should not be there:
He has a gap between his two front teeth.
I squeezed through a gap in the hedge.
opening a hole that something can pass through or that you can see through, especially at the entrance of something:
The train disappeared into the dark opening of the tunnel.
I looked through the narrow opening in the wall.
leak a small hole where something has been damaged or broken that lets liquid or gas flow in or out:
a leak in the pipe
The plumber's coming to repair the leak.
puncture especially British English a small hole in a tyre through which air escapes:
My bike's got a puncture.
crack a very narrow space between two things or two parts of something:
The snake slid into a crack in the rock.
She was peering through the crack in the curtains.
slot a straight narrow hole that you put a particular type of object into:
You have to put a coin in the slot before you dial the number.
A small disk fits into a slot in the camera.
crater a round hole in the ground made by an explosion or by a large object hitting it hard:
a volcanic crater
The meteor left a crater over five miles wide.
the craters on the moon
make a hole in something to cause a hole to appear in something:
Make a hole in the bottom of the can using a hammer and nail.
pierce to make a small hole in or through something, using a pointed object:
The dog's teeth had pierced her skin.
Shelley wanted to have her ears pierced (=for earrings).
prick to make a very small hole in the surface of something, using a pointed object:
Prick the potatoes before baking them.
My finger was bleeding where the needle had pricked it.
punch to make a hole through paper or flat material using a metal tool or other sharp object:
I bought one of those things for punching holes in paper.
You have to get your ticket punched before you get on the train.
perforate formal to make a hole or holes in something:
Fragments of the bullet had perforated his intestines.
drill to make a hole using a special tool, often one which turns round and round very quickly:
The dentist started drilling a hole in my tooth.
They won a contract to drill for oil in the area.
bore to make a deep round hole through a rock, into the ground etc:
They had to bore through solid rock.
The men were boring a hole for the tunnel.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

make a hole in something to cause a hole to appear in something:
Make a hole in the bottom of the can using a hammer and nail.
pierce to make a small hole in or through something, using a pointed object:
The dog's teeth had pierced her skin.
Shelley wanted to have her ears pierced (=for earrings).
prick to make a very small hole in the surface of something, using a pointed object:
Prick the potatoes before baking them.
My finger was bleeding where the needle had pricked it.
punch to make a hole through paper or flat material using a metal tool or other sharp object:
I bought one of those things for punching holes in paper.
You have to get your ticket punched before you get on the train.
puncture to make a small hole in something, especially something where skin or a wall surrounds a softer or hollow inside part:
The bullet had punctured his lung.
perforate formal to make a hole or holes in something:
Fragments of the bullet had perforated his intestines.
drill to make a hole using a special tool, often one which turns round and round very quickly:
The dentist started drilling a hole in my tooth.
They won a contract to drill for oil in the area.
bore to make a deep round hole through a rock, into the ground etc:
They had to bore through solid rock.
The men were boring a hole for the tunnel.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲