Meaning of penetrate In English

• 0 to move into or through something:

  • Amazingly, the bullet did not penetrate his brain.

  • In a normal winter, the frost penetrates deeply enough to kill off insect eggs in the soil.

  • The organization had been penetrated by a spy.

  • The company has been successful in penetrating overseas markets this year (= it has started selling its products in them).

  • These changes had not yet penetrated as far west as the mountains of Merioneth.

  • Our eyes couldn't penetrate the dark/the gloom of the inner cave.

• 1 to study or investigate something in order to understand it:

  • It's hard to penetrate her mind.

  • He penetrates deeper into the artist's life in the second volume of his autobiography.

• 2 to move into or through something:

  • [ I ] The drill isn’t sharp enough to penetrate into the rock.

  • [ T ] Women have begun to penetrate a lot of fields that were dominated by men for centuries.

• 3 to understand something, or to be understood as a result of study or investigation:

  • [ I ] Her writing penetrated to the heart of contemporary life.

• 4 to begin to sell products or services in a new area or to a new group of customers:

  • The company is beginning to penetrate Asian markets.