penetrate

verb

1. 1

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

   Light penetrates darkness.

   He takes the prepared charcoal used by artists, brings it to a white heat, and suddenly plunges it in a bath of mercury, of which the globules instantly penetrate the pores of charcoal, and may be said to metallize it.

   The native-born and the "naturalised" locomotives have been giving way to the standardised types, of which the L.M.S.R. class "5" 4-6-0 has led the way and has penetrated the furthest.

   Considerable interest has developed within the defense community during recent years in weapons that are capable of penetrating some distance into the earth before detonating. […] To be generally effective, earth penetrating weapons (EPW) must be capable of penetrating various geologic targets, ranging from soil to rock, without producing critical damage to the payload.

2. 2

   figurativeTo achieve understanding of, despite some obstacle; to comprehend; to understand.

   I could not penetrate Burke's opaque rhetoric.

   things which here were […]too subtile for us to penetrate

3. 3

   To affect profoundly through the senses or feelings; to move deeply.

   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.

   I am advised to give her music o' mornings; they say it will penetrate

4. 4

   To infiltrate an enemy to gather intelligence.

5. 5

   To insert the penis into an orifice, such as a vagina, mouth, or anus.

   a male elephant comes up and penetrates the female

   His weapons have been destroyed; his body has been or can be penetrated. In other words, he is rapable.

6. 6

   To move a piece past the defending pieces of one's opponent.

Forms

past tense

penetrated

past participle

penetrated

present participle

penetrating

third person singular

penetrates