to pierce through the silence

7.1

A sudden sound, like a scream, that breaks the quiet

phrasal verb

: romper el silencio

A scream pierced through the silence of the night, startling everyone nearby.

Examples

Suddenly, the loud ringing of the phone pierced through the silence in the office.
The sound of the train's whistle pierced through the silence of the sleeping village.
The sudden scream pierced through the silence!
A loud crash pierced through the silence of the night.
A scream pierced through the silence of the night, startling everyone nearby.
Suddenly, the loud ringing of the phone pierced through the silence in the office.
The sound of the train's whistle pierced through the silence of the sleeping village.

Synonyms

to disturb

vsto pierce through the silence

183 2.1

Interrupt someone's quiet or stop them from resting

is a sudden interruption of a calm period rather than any disturbance

to pierce

vsto pierce through the silence

22 4.5

To make a loud sharp sound that is heard clearly

interrupts a calm period suddenly without emphasis on shrill sound

to break the silence

vsto pierce through the silence

9 3.2

To make a sound or speak after a time of silence

interrupts a calm period suddenly rather than only making noise

Antonyms

to be quiet

231 1.0

To stop making noise or talking

How Loud

to pierce through the silence

7.1

to murmur

11 4.2

to whisper

586 1.0

Surface Forms

pierce through the silence infinitive

pierced through the silence past

pierced through the silence past participle

piercing through the silence present participle

pierces through the silence third person singular

Morphology

pierce + through + the + silence

The meaning is directly derivable from the constituents: 'pierce' (to penetrate), 'through' (moving across), and 'silence' (absence of sound), so a listener will infer a sound cutting into a quiet period. This sound-forces-penetration metaphor is common cross-linguistically and follows a transparent compositional pattern that a B1 learner who knows the words can understand.

Etymology

Pierce through the silence paints a picture of a sharp sound cutting the quiet: pierce is like a knife and through plus silence shows the quiet being cut. So, the phrase means to suddenly 'break' or 'interrupt' the quiet.