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to percolate

to percolate

8 6.1
Spread slowly through a group until many people know or feel it
  • verb
  • /ˈpɜrkəˌleɪt/
translation icon : difundirse
  • The idea and design had been percolating in my mind for months.
  • social issues percolated

What that does is that it percolates a sense of self doubt in the child.

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Examples

  • And a wild thought began to percolate through the crowd.

  • Thanks to Papyri, we know how long the news took to percolate through Egypt.

  • Those things percolate for years and in some cases decades.

  • I felt like I needed some quiet time to let it all percolate.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Let the implications of that statement percolate through your brain for a moment, then read on.

    Blog text (8)
  • An idea has been percolating in my head for a while.

    Blog text (5)
  • I'm sure this idea will be percolating in the back of my mind for a while.

    Blog text (4)
  • And the answers, indeed, are percolating up differently through different courts.

    Academic text (2001)
  • Again, ideological issues percolating far down in society.

  • New ideas began to percolate throughout the team after the brainstorming session.

Synonyms

to spread
vsto percolate
750 1.6

To become known by many people

enters awareness slowly and in small amounts
to circulate
vsto percolate
103 3.9

To spread information or documents among people

spreads slowly through a group in small steps
to go around
vsto percolate
85 2.3

Spread among many people, as with a story or rumor

spreads slowly from person to person over time
to infect
vsto percolate
79 4.1

Spread an emotion or idea to other people

spreads slowly and gently through people without contagious force
to get around
vsto percolate
56 2.8

Information becomes known to many people

reaches people gradually over time rather than quickly
to disseminate
vsto percolate
48 6.8

To spread information or ideas widely so many people know them

spreads slowly within a small group rather than widely and fast
to diffuse
vsto percolate
40 5.5

To spread out and reach many people or places

spreads in small steps within a group rather than over wide areas
to propagate
vsto percolate
23 5.9

Spread ideas, news, or feelings to many people

moves through people slowly without deliberate mass promotion
to pass around
vsto percolate
4 2.0

Make information spread among many people

moves gradually through the group rather than being shared at once
to diffusing
vsto percolate
1 3.9

Spreading slowly from one place to another, like light or a smell

refers to ideas becoming known slowly within a group rather than area

Antonyms

282 3.7

To hide something so others cannot see or find it

176 4.8

To stop public protest by force or by people in power

How Widely

to saturate
55 5.2
to pervade
22 6.7
to spread
750 1.6
to percolate
8 6.1
to circulate
103 3.9
leak
172 4.8

Surface Forms

percolate infinitive
percolated past
percolated past participle
percolating present participle
percolates third person singular

Morphology

percolate = percol + ate

The figurative sense ('spread slowly') is a metaphorical extension of the physical meaning and is only partially inferable from the morphemes for learners unfamiliar with the base process.

Etymology

Percolate keeps the same image of movement 'through', from Latin per- 'through' and colare 'to strain', but used for ideas or news instead of liquid. So when something percolates it spreads slowly and becomes known little by little.