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Glite Dictionary
🗡️ To pierce 🕳️ A small hole 🎈 To deflate ego
to puncture

to puncture

50 3.9
To make a small hole in something with a sharp object that lets air or liquid escape
  • verb
  • /ˈpʌŋkʧər/
translation icon : pinchar
  • Do not let the spines puncture your skin.

And that's bad because those sharp metal bits can puncture their organs.

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Examples

  • "The garden dome has been punctured," Stacy said, jabbing a thick finger at the monitor screen.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Another two centimeters or so and that nail would have punctured his lung.

    A Home of Our Own (1993)

  • So this is a special balloon that if you puncture it slowly enough, it will not burst.

  • Did anything fly from the engine and puncture the fuselage?

    Apocalypse of Ice (2020)

  • And that's bad because those sharp metal bits can puncture their organs.

    SciShow

  • You want to know what happens to an eyeball when it gets punctured?

    The Hitcher (1986)

  • It has probably punctured his lung.

    Dual (2022)

  • Water squirts from the holes she's punctured in the side of the tub.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The vet climbed the bars to perch over its neck and punctured the thick hide with a vaccination.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • The hiker accidentally punctured his water bottle with a sharp rock, causing it to leak.

Synonyms

to punch
vsto puncture
136 1.8

To make a hole in paper or leather with a small tool

is done with a sharp object and usually causes air or fluid loss
to pierce
vsto puncture
110 3.5

To make a hole in something with a sharp object like a needle

adds the idea that the hole causes air or fluid to escape
to prick
vsto puncture
14 3.9

To make a small hole in something with a sharp point

causes air or fluid to escape through the small hole made
to perforate
vsto puncture
12 6.1

Make a hole through something by piercing it

is about a single small hole that lets air or fluid escape
to hole
vsto puncture
6 6.4

To make an opening in something by cutting or piercing

specifically implies a small opening that allows air or fluid to escape
to lance
vsto puncture
5 7.0

Cut a skin sore to let out fluid

focuses on making small leaking holes rather than general cutting
to pierce through
vsto puncture
3 4.4

Move into and through something by making a hole or gap

is about making a smaller, often leaking hole rather than full passage
to prickle
vsto puncture
4.4

Make a small hole in something with a sharp point

involves holes that specifically let air or fluid escape afterward
to thurl
vsto puncture
  • Archaic
9.9

To make a hole through something with a tool

means making a small leaking hole but is archaic in form

Antonyms

to seal
457 2.5

To close something tightly to stop air or water getting in

Compounds

lumbar puncture
  • Specialized
5 5.3

A way doctors remove fluid from the lower spine to test or treat brain and nerve problems

spinal puncture
  • Specialized
6.7

A medical procedure that takes fluid from the lower spine for tests or treatment

How Damaging

rupture
34 6.0
to perforate
12 6.1
to puncture
50 3.9
to pierce
110 3.5
to prick
14 3.9

Surface Forms

puncture infinitive
punctured past
punctured past participle
puncturing present participle
punctures third person singular

Morphology

puncture = punct + ure

The verb shares the same lexical form but is built from a Latin combining form plus '-ure', which is not a transparent, productive pairing for average learners.

Etymology

The verb puncture also comes from Latin pungere 'to prick', so to puncture something is to pierce it with a sharp point and let air or liquid escape.