| 释义 |
penetrate, v.|ˈpɛnɪtreɪt|
Pa. pple. penetrated, † rarely penetrate = L. penetratus.
[f. L. penetrāt-, ppl. stem of penetrāre to place within, enter within, pierce, etc.; related to penitus interior, inmost, to the inmost recesses. Cf. F. pénétrer (13–14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), and see -ate3 7.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. iv. (Arb.) 159 Also ye finde these words, penetrate, penetrable, indignitie, which I cannot see how we may spare them, whatsoeuer fault wee finde with Ink-horne termes: for our speach wanteth wordes to such sence so well to be vsed.]
1. a. trans. To make or find its (or one's) way into the interior of, or right through (something): usually implying force or effort; to pass into or through; to gain entrance or access within; to pierce. (Said also of the sight.)
In quot. 1541 to cause (a thing) to enter, insert (as in L.).
1530Palsgr. 655/2, I penetrate, I perce or thrill thorowe a thyng, je penetre,..and je tresperce. 1541Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. C iv b, The synewes be nat penetrate but in y⊇ teth [L. ad dentes vero implantari videntur]. 1547Boorde Brev. Health cclxxix. 93 Coleryke humours..penytractyng the fleshe a lytel. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III 56 With out resistence [we] haue penetrate the ample region..of Wales. 1610Willet Hexapla Dan. 282 One bodie doth not penetrate or pierce another. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. viii. 97 Verse breaks the Ground, and penetrates the Brake. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest v, Be more cautious how you penetrate the depths of this forest. 1849Murchison Siluria iv. 76 Those strata..were also penetrated by powerful eruptions. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. iii. 245 A cloud which it was almost impossible to penetrate. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 64 The light instead of penetrating the snow, is thrown back from the ice-walls of each little air-cell or cavity. Mod. The darkness was so dense that the eye (or sight) could not penetrate it.
b. To enter and diffuse itself through; to permeate. Also with personal subj.: To cause to be permeated; to imbue (with something).
1680H. More Apocal. Apoc. 43 The fixed purity thereof being ever penetrated by the presence of the seven Lamps of Fire. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 151 Gibbons, whose art penetrated all materials, carved that beautiful pedestal. 1813Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 227 Organic remains..of large vegetables, completely penetrated with silex. 1815Wordsw. Sonn., ‘The Shepherd, looking eastward’ 4 That little cloud..penetrated all with tender light. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 49 A vast organization which once penetrated the entire trading life of England. 1887Spectator 5 Nov. 1512 The reader..should have penetrated himself—so to speak— with the atmosphere of the times.
c. To insert the penis into the vagina of (a woman). Also absol.
1953H. M. Parshley tr. S. de Beauvoir's Second Sex iv. iii. 377 Woman, once penetrated, has no such sense of danger; but in return she feels trespassed upon in her flesh. 1960J. Rodney Handbk. Sex Knowledge iv. 55 Deep penetration must not be aimed at for a number of sessions, and when the woman is ready for it she will move her body in such a way that the penis will penetrate deeply. 1963M. McCarthy Group i. 24 Kay had had an awful time with Harald; five times, she insisted, before she was penetrated. Ibid. vi. 123 My mother..told me that a gentleman never penetrated his bride on the first night. 1975Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Mar. 293/1 A character..endeavours in the course of one week to penetrate the female offspring of the entire Cabinet.
d. To infiltrate (an organization, esp. an enemy espionage network) as a spy.
1962L. Deighton Ipcress File 221 He organized a train-wrecking group until it was penetrated and the survivors fled. 1967L. James Chameleon File (1968) xvi. 201 We have penetrated the Cuban g-2, Mr. Wilson. We shall know if you do not do as we have asked. 1972H. MacInnes Message from Malaga xix. 261 Are you forgetting my job? It is to penetrate the Lucas set up. 1977C. McCarry Secret Lovers xix. 270 Did you arrange for him to double her, give him the illusion that he was penetrating your network?
2. intr. To make its (or one's) way into or through something, or to some point or place (with implication of remoteness or difficulty of access); to get in or through; to gain entrance or access.
1530Palsgr. 655/2 A dangerouse weapen that is able to penetrate thorowe so stronge a harnesse. 1664H. More Myst. Iniq. i. xii. 40 Through which distance neither her sight nor hearing can ever penetrate. 1732Pope Ep. Cobham 142 Born where Heav'n's influence scarce can penetrate. 1798Ferriar Illustr. Sterne, Cert. Varieties Man 211 After the natives of Europe began to penetrate into the east. 1841–71T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 430 A wide slit that allows the water freely to penetrate to the interior.
3. fig.
a. trans. To pierce the ear, heart, or feelings of; to affect deeply; to ‘touch’.
1591Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 231 Sad sighes, deepe grones, nor siluer-shedding teares Could penetrate her vncompassionate Sire. 1641Descr. Familie of Love 3 He [Cupid] penetrateth the intrals of the most magnanimous. 1720Ozell Vertot's Rom. Rep. II. x. 145 Like a Man penetrated with the utmost Grief. 1782F. Burney Cecilia x. x, Cecilia, astonished and penetrated, opposed the alteration. 1834Southey Doctor cxxxix. (1862) 347 Certain philosophers..have been, to use the French-English of the day, deeply penetrated with this truth. 1878R. W. Dale Lect. Preach. vii. 184 Men may still be penetrated with awe by the Divine Righteousness.
b. intr. To touch the heart, affect the feelings.
1611Shakes. Cymb. ii. iii. 14, I am aduised to giue her Musicke a mornings, they say it will penetrate.
4. fig.
a. trans. To gain intellectual access into the inner content or meaning of; to get or have insight into; to see into or through; to attain knowledge of; to find out, discover, discern.
1560tr. Fisher's Treat. Prayer To Rdr. A iv b, Who..so profoundely doth penetrate the comfort, ioy, and consolation commyng by true prayer. 1659Gentl. Calling v. §19 If it be thoroughly penetrated, it will appear no less opposite to contentment than the former. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) VII. xvii. 259 Seleucus penetrated his scheme. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. Ind. II. iv. v. 163 Clive penetrated and disappointed his designs. 1880E. White Cert. Relig. 53 Men are left to penetrate their meaning by study and discovery.
b. intr. To gain intellectual or spiritual access, insight or knowledge; to ‘see’ into or through. Also, to be understood or fully realized.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. iv. (Arb.) 25 They..yet penetrated further to know the diuine essences and substances separate. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. v. §2 In philosophy, the contemplations of man do either penetrate unto God, or are circumferred to nature. 1751Harris Hermes Wks. (1841) 205 Thus it is that it [the mind] penetrates into the recesses of all things. 1866R. W. Dale Disc. Spec. Occas. vii. 233 We have not yet penetrated into all the secrets of nature. 1955E. Coxhead Figure in Mist iv. 134 ‘You're the most frightful woman I've ever met.’ ‘All right, it's penetrated.’ 1973G. Moffat Deviant Death vii. 109 We didn't notice that the gates were open..it wasn't till we came back hours later that it really penetrated.
Hence ˈpenetrated ppl. a.; ˈpenetrating vbl. n. (also attrib.; often in reference to optical instruments: cf. penetration 2 b).
1656Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. ii. liv. (1674) 204 Mistaken in their penetrating into the hidden sense of their actions. 1661Boyle Style of Script. (1675) 87 Divers passages of Holy Scripture..afford out of their penetrated bowels, rich and precious mysteries of divinity. 1799Sir W. Herschel in Phil. Trans. (1800) 49 The power of penetrating into space by telescopes is very different from magnifying power. 1837Goring & Pritchard Microgr. 111 An instrument whose light or penetrating power was superior to the other. |