PENETRATING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does penetrating mean? 

• PENETRATING (adjective)
  The adjective PENETRATING has 2 senses:

1. having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions

2. tending to penetrate; having the power of entering or piercing

  Familiarity information: PENETRATING used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PENETRATING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions

Synonyms:

acute; discriminating; incisive; keen; knifelike; penetrating; penetrative; piercing; sharp

Context example:

frequent penetrative observations

Similar:

perceptive (having the ability to perceive or understand; keen in discernment)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Tending to penetrate; having the power of entering or piercing

Synonyms:

penetrating; penetrative

Context example:

a penetrating odor

Similar:

sharp (having or made by a thin edge or sharp point; suitable for cutting or piercing)

 Context examples 

With an open, or penetrating, injury, an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue.

(Head Injuries, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

I am serious, Miss Woodhouse, whatever your penetrating eyes may fancy—I am sick of England—and would leave it to-morrow, if I could.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

To this house I came just ere dark on an evening marked by the characteristics of sad sky, cold gale, and continued small penetrating rain.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Check Yes or No if the adjective applies to your pain; penetrating.

(BPI - Penetrating, NCI Thesaurus)

Breast cancer cells which are penetrating breast tissue

(Intracystic Breast Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Injuries may be classified by whether or not the skull is penetrated (i.e., penetrating vs. nonpenetrating) or whether there is an associated hemorrhage.

(Head Injury, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

In every other respect, in looking around her, or penetrating forward, she saw more to distrust and to apprehend.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Malignant neoplasia of glandular epithelium composed of tubular and or villous structures penetrating beyond the muscularis mucosa.

(Adenocarcinoma of the Mouse Intestinal Tract, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

In addition, an elevated diversity of organic molecules may elevate greenhouse gas concentrations in waters because there are more molecules that can be broken down by sunlight penetrating the water.

(Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater ecosystems, University of Cambridge)

Scientists examined part of Mars' Utopia Planitia region, in the mid-northern latitudes, with the orbiter's ground-penetrating Shallow Radar (SHARAD) instrument.

(Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior, NASA)