Definition

1. Verb (transitive and intransitive):
   • To make a hole in or through something using a sharp, pointed object: To penetrate or puncture a surface.
   • To force a way through or into something: To cut or pass through a barrier or medium.
   • To affect the senses or emotions sharply and deeply: To be felt intensely, as a sound, feeling, or sight that is penetrating.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (Transitive):

  • The thorn pierced my finger. (A sharp object made a hole in my skin.)
  • Her scream pierced the silence of the night. (A sharp sound cut through the quiet.)
  • The news pierced his heart with sadness. (Emotions were affected deeply and sharply.)

• Verb (Intransitive, often with 'through' or 'into'):

  • The needle pierced through the fabric easily. (The needle passed through the material.)
  • Sunlight finally pierced through the thick clouds. (Light forced its way through an obstacle.)

Advanced Usage

• "to pierce the corporate veil" (Legal/Business Idiom): To hold a company's shareholders personally liable for the company's actions by ignoring the legal separation between the company and its owners.

  • The court decided to pierce the corporate veil due to evidence of fraud.

• "piercing" (Adjective): Describing something that is very sharp, intense, or penetrating.

  • She gave him a piercing look. (A very sharp and penetrating gaze.)
  • He felt a piercing pain in his side. (A very sharp and sudden pain.)

Variants and Related Words

• Piercing (n): The act of making a hole or the hole itself; also, a form of body modification where jewelry is inserted.
  • She got a new ear piercing.
• Piercer (n): A person or tool that pierces.
  • The piercer used a sterilized needle.

Synonyms

• Puncture: To make a small hole with a sharp point.
• Penetrate: To enter or pass through something.
• Impale: To pierce with a sharp stake or point (more violent connotation).
• Perforate: To make a line of holes in something.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Pierce through: To succeed in penetrating or passing through something.
  • The bullet pierced through the metal plate.

Related Idioms

• Pierce someone's heart: To cause someone to feel a sudden, sharp emotion, typically sadness or love.
  • The tragic story pierced the hearts of everyone who heard it.
• Pierce the darkness: For light or sound to cut through darkness.
  • A single beam from the lighthouse pierced the darkness.

Noun

1. 14th President of the United States (1804-1869)

Verb

1. make a hole into
   • The needle pierced her flesh
2. penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument
3. sound sharply or shrilly
   • The scream pierced the night
4. move or affect (a person's emotions or bodily feelings) deeply or sharply
   • The cold pierced her bones
   • Her words pierced the students
5. cut or make a way through
   • the knife cut through the flesh
   • The path pierced the jungle
   • Light pierced through the forest