pierce.
To puncture; to break through.
Meaning & usage
To puncture; to break through.
The diver pierced the surface of the water with scarcely a splash.
to pierce the enemy's line
To create a hole in the skin for the purpose of inserting jewelry.
Can you believe he pierced his tongue?
to break or interrupt abruptly
A dreadful scream pierced the silence.
To get to the heart or crux of (a matter).
to pierce a mystery
To penetrate; to affect deeply.
A stab of fear pierced my heart.
Where this word comes from
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”).
A piercing.
Where this word comes from
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”).
A pierced earring.
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from Japanese ピアス (piasu, “pierced earring”), itself from English pierce.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.