PENETRATING • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • 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

... the critical discharges—not to attempt to check the process going on, but simply to assist the natural operation. His principles and practice were based on the theory of the existence of a restoring essence (or {physis}) penetrating through all creation; the agent which is constantly striving to preserve all things in their natural state, and to restore them when they are preternaturally deranged. In the management of this vis medicatrix naturae the art of the physician consisted. Attention, therefore, to regimen and ...

— Fathers of Biology • Charles McRae

... puddle trenches have been carried, for the purpose of penetrating water-bearing strata, and reaching impenetrable ground, in some cases, has been as much as 160 ft. below the natural surface of the ground, and the expense of timbering, pumping, and excavation in such an instance can be easily imagined. This may be realized by referring to ...

— Scientific American Supplement, No. 595, May 28, 1887 • Various

... that were made were numerous. In one place there were a number of people penetrating a path that led only to a hedge and deep ditch; indeed it was a ...

— Varney the Vampire - Or the Feast of Blood • Thomas Preskett Prest

... flooded with light, had been carefully closed. The iron door leading on deck was then securely fastened in such a manner as to prevent even a drop of water from penetrating to ...

— The Mysterious Island • Jules Verne

... Chinese merchants an enormous profit. Quite naturally that sagacious nation saw the danger of letting the truth concerning the origin, manufacture and cost of their most precious commodity pass into the possession of other people, and they strove to prevent foreigners from penetrating to their inland tea gardens, while they plied inquisitive enquirers with fairy tales which were eagerly swallowed. They said that every different kind of tea was the product of a different species of plant, which bore a different name, and that the manufacture was a most intricate process depending ...

— Tea Leaves • Francis Leggett & Co.

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