pierce

UK/pɪəs//pɪɹs/

pierce verb: to puncture; to break through.

Verb

pierce (third-person singular simple present pierces, present participle piercing, simple past and past participle pierced)

(transitive) To puncture; to break through.
- The diver pierced the surface of the water with scarcely a splash.
- to pierce the enemy's line
Synonyms:

transfix
(transitive) To create a hole in the skin for the purpose of inserting jewelry.
- Can you believe he pierced his tongue?
(transitive) to break or interrupt abruptly
- A dreadful scream pierced the silence.
(figuratively, transitive) To get to the heart or crux of (a matter).
- to pierce a mystery
(figuratively, transitive) To penetrate; to affect deeply.
- A stab of fear pierced my heart.
- pierced with grief1715–1720, Homer, “Book XI”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC

Noun (1)

pierce (plural pierces)

(nonstandard) A piercing.
- Actually, a navel pierce beautificates any feminine form, as I'm sure it does for you...1997 June 18, ROBERT W. MONTCALM, “Naval piercing for men.”, in rec.arts.bodyart (Usenet), archived from the original on 02 Jul 2026
- When I was considering a tongue pierce, I had to find out as much as I could about it.1998 March 20, dssyenon (Ted Liu), “ Oh God, My Nephew Wants a Tongue Ring !”, in alt.health (Usenet), archived from the original on 02 Jul 2026

Noun (2)

pierce (plural pierces)

(Japan) A pierced earring.

Proper noun capitalized: Pierce

Pierce

A male given name from Ancient Greek, medieval variant of Piers. Modern usage may also derive from the surname.
A surname originating as a patronymic.
A town in Weld County, Colorado.
A minor city in Clearwater County, Idaho.
An unincorporated community in Wilton Township, Will County, Illinois.
An unincorporated community in Green County, Kentucky.
A city, the county seat of Pierce County, Nebraska.
An unincorporated community in Wharton County, Texas.
An unincorporated community and coal town in Tucker County, West Virginia.
A town in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.
A number of townships, listed under Pierce Township.

pierce meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

pierce in Hindi

to pierce, to prick: सालना sālnā
to pierce: कोंचना kõcnā
to pierce, perforate, bore through or into: बींधना bīndhnā
to pierce, tear through: छेदना chednā

pierce in Tamil

to puncture — see also puncture, perforate: குத்து kuttu

pierce in Marathi

to pierce, penetrate: वेधणे vedhṇe

pierce in Urdu

to pierce: سالنا sālnā

More languagesFewer languages

pierce in Bengali: বিঁধান, রহস্যভেদ করা, বিদ্ধ করা, বিদীর্ণ করা
pierce in Telugu: గుచ్చు guccu, గ్రుచ్చు gruccu, పొడుచు poḍucu, ఊటు ūṭu
pierce in Malayalam: തുളയ്ക്കുക tuḷaykkuka, തുളയിടുക tuḷayiṭuka
pierce in Kannada: ಇರಿ, ನಾಟು, ತಿವಿ, ಚುರ್ಚು
pierce in Gujarati: વીંધવું vī̃dhvũ, ખોસવું khosvũ
pierce in Odia: ଗଳିବା gaḷibā
pierce in Sanskrit: व्यध् vyadh, श्नथयति śnatháyati, निक्षति nikṣati, खन् khan
pierce in Assamese: ফুটা phuta
pierce in Arabic: ثَقَبَ ṯaqaba

Examples of pierce in a sentence

A shot pierced the ship.
What appliance can pierce through the outer layers of a star and test the conditions within?1926, A[rthur] [S]tanley Eddington, “Survey of the Problem”, in The Internal Constitution of the Stars, page 1:
The flatness of the landscape facilitates views right across the Firth of Forth to Fife, before the railway begins to pierce the Edinburgh suburbs.2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 75:
Hello , I already have a lip pierce (ring) and want to get another one on the other side of my lip.1998 June 30, jawhar, “dual lip pierce”, in rec.arts.bodyart (Usenet), archived from the original on 02 Jul 2026:
One had a lip pierce, the other a nose pierce.1999 February 21, Mariann T. Woodward, “Staff and Body Piercing”, in alt.childcare (Usenet), archived from the original on 02 Jul 2026:

All 40 example sentences with pierce

Synonyms of pierce

transfix

Forms of pierce

Verb
third-person singular present	pierces
present participle	piercing
past participle	pierced
past	pierced
Noun
plural	pierces
Proper noun
alternative form	Bearss

Past tense of pierce: pierced

Origin of pierce

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”).

Borrowed from Japanese ピアス (piasu, “pierced earring”), itself from English pierce.

Words formed from pierce

Words that rhyme with pierce

Questions about pierce

What does pierce mean?: Pierce means to puncture; to break through.
What is pierce in Hindi?: Pierce in Hindi is सालना (sālnā), कोंचना (kõcnā), बींधना (bīndhnā). See Pierce meaning in Hindi.
How do you use pierce in a sentence?: A shot pierced the ship.
What part of speech is pierce?: Pierce can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce pierce?: Pierce is pronounced /pɪɹs/ (US).
What is the past tense of pierce?: The past tense of pierce is pierced.

Words near pierce in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-pierce.ogg.

Cite this entry: “pierce.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pierce. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.