perforate
verb, adjective
Forms perforates perforating perforated
- verb (Received Pronunciation) IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈpɜː.fə.ɹeɪt/
- verb (General American) IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈpɝ.fɚ.eɪt/
- verb Audio (US): (file)
- adjective (Received Pronunciation) IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈpɜː.fə.ɹət/
- adjective (General American) IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈpɝ.fɚ.ət/
- verb (transitive) To pierce; to penetrate.
- verb (transitive) To make a line of holes in (a thin material) to allow separation at the line. “to perforate a sheet of postage stamps”
- adjective (obsolete, as a participle) Perforated.
- adjective (obsolete, as a participial adjective) Perforated, having a hole.
- adjective (philately, biology) Perforated.
Synonyms
Etymology
The adjective is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English perforat(e) (“perforated, pierced”), borrowed from Latin perforātus, the perfect
passive participle of perforō (“to bore or pierce through, to perforate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from per- (“through, thorough”) + forō (“to bore, pierce”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To bore through; to pierce through with a pointed instrument; to make a hole or holes through by boring or piercing; to pierce or penetrate the surface of. Bacon.
- adjective Pierced with a hole or holes, or with pores; having transparent dots resembling holes.
Etymology [L. perforatus, p.p. of perforare to perforate; per through + forare to bore. See Bore, v.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “perforate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details