unpierceableadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈpɪəsəbl/, U.S. /ˌənˈpɪrsəb(ə)l/ Not pierceable; impenetrable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > [adjective] > penetrating > able to be penetrated > not
unpenetrablec1425
impenetrablea1464
unpierceablec1480
pierceless1755
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > [adjective] > stopping up or blocking > having no openings > not pierced, punctured, etc. > not able to be
unpierceablec1480
unthirlable1483
impierceable1532
imperforable1658
unpuncturable1891
c1480 Medulla Gram. (Pepys) f. 98v (MED) Impenitrabile, vmpersable [a1425 Stonyhurst vnþerlyde].
1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum xviii. xxxiii. f. 359v/1 The Crocodill, an ill beast bred in Aegypt, lyuing partly in water, and on land..his skinne is vnpearceable, scalye and browne coloured.
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne xx. lxvi. 376 Is he then vnpearceable..That neither force nor foe he needes regard?
1640 D. Lupton Glory of their Times 380 Where so many graces as humilitie, &c. are connext with meditation, they give an edge unto the soule, and make it unpierceable as steel.
1713 J. Edwards Theologia Reformata I. 221 Water gushed out of an unpierceable Rock to quench their Thirst.
1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc ix. 333 In night unpierceable Enveloped, Death is there.
a1849 J. C. Mangan Coll. Wks.: Poems (1999) IV. 24 Conal's unpierceable Shirt of Mail.
1910 Reno (Nevada) Evening Gaz. 17 Sept. 4/2 An unpierceable mystery surrounds the case.
2008 R. T. Kelly Crusaders 220 The leather had a rigidity that Stevie considered akin to his mindset: pliant, but unpierceable.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.c1480