piercing

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

pierc·ing

(pîr′sĭng)

adj.

Able or seeming to pierce, as:

a. Very loud; shrill: a piercing cry.

b. Fixed and intense in appearance: piercing blue eyes.

c. Causing pain, especially because of cold: a piercing wind.

d. Trenchant; incisive: piercing remarks.

e. Keenly perceptive or intelligent: a piercing intellect.

1. A piece of jewelry designed to be worn through a perforation in a body part.

2. The hole through which such a piece of jewelry is worn.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

piercing

(ˈpɪəsɪŋ)

adj

1. (of a sound) sharp and shrill

2. (of eyes or a look) intense and penetrating

3. (of an emotion) strong and deeply affecting

4. (of cold or wind) intense or biting

5. the art or practice of piercing body parts for the insertion of jewellery

6. an instance of the piercing of a body part

ˈpiercingly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pierc•ing

(ˈpɪər sɪŋ)

adj.

1. loud; shrill.

2. extremely cold or bitter.

3. appearing to gaze deeply into something.

4. perceptive or aware.

5. sarcastic; cutting.

[1375–1425]

pierc′ing•ly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Adj.	1.	piercing - having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions; "an acute observer of politics and politicians"; "incisive comments"; "icy knifelike reasoning"; "as sharp and incisive as the stroke of a fang"; "penetrating insight"; "frequent penetrative observations" incisive, keen, penetrating, penetrative, knifelike, discriminating, acute, sharp perceptive - having the ability to perceive or understand; keen in discernment; "a perceptive eye"; "a perceptive observation"
	2.	piercing - painful as if caused by a sharp instrument; "a cutting wind"; "keen winds"; "knifelike cold"; "piercing knifelike pains"; "piercing cold"; "piercing criticism"; "a stabbing pain"; "lancinating pain" lancinate, lancinating, stabbing, cutting, knifelike, keen sharp - keenly and painfully felt; as if caused by a sharp edge or point; "a sharp pain"; "sharp winds"

piercing

adjective

1. (of sound) penetrating, sharp, loud, shattering, shrill, high-pitched, ear-splitting a piercing whistle
penetrating low, quiet, inaudible, mellifluous, low-pitched, soundless

2. perceptive, searching, aware, bright (informal), sharp, keen, alert, probing, penetrating, shrewd, perspicacious, quick-witted He fixes you with a piercing stare.
perceptive slow, thick, obtuse, unperceptive, slow-witted

3. sharp, shooting, powerful, acute, severe, intense, painful, stabbing, fierce, racking, exquisite, excruciating, agonizing I felt a piercing pain in my abdomen.

4. (of weather) cold, biting, keen, freezing, bitter, raw, arctic, nipping, numbing, frosty, wintry, nippy a piercing wind

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

piercing

adjective

1. Marked by severity or intensity:

acute, gnawing, knifelike, lancinating, sharp, shooting, stabbing.

2. Elevated in pitch:

high, high-pitched, piping, shrieky, shrill, shrilly, treble.

Music: acute.

Translations

ثاقِب، نَفّاذ، مُخْتَرِقثَقْبحادٌّ، عالي الصَّوْتقارِس، شَديد

bodavýostrýpronikavýpropichování

bidendegennemborendegennemtrængendepiercing

durchdringend gellend Piercing schneidend

διαπεραστικός πίρσινγκ

perforación piercing

lävistys

pénétrant percant piercing

pirsing

metsző szél

nístandiskerandistingandi

penetrante piercing

ピアス

피어싱

piercing

gjennomborende piercing

przekłucie

piercing

пирсинг

osterprediren

genomträngande

การเจาะ

acı delicidelip geçenkeskin tiz

lỗ bấm

刺骨的尖锐的洞察的穿刺

piercing

[ˈpɪəsɪŋ] ADJ → penetrante, agudo; [eyes, gaze] → penetrante; [cry] → desgarrador; [wind] → cortante; [cold] → penetrante; [pain] → punzante

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

piercing

[ˈpɪə^rsɪŋ]

adj

[cry, sound] → perçant(e)

[eyes, stare] → perçant(e)

[wind] → cinglant(e)

n → piercing m
She has several piercings → Elle a plusieurs piercings.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

piercing

adj

→ durchdringend; cold, wind also → schneidend; stare → stechend, durchdringend; sarcasm → beißend; wit → scharf; piercing blue eyes → durchdringende blaue Augen

(liter, = painful) → durchdringend

n (= body piercing) → Piercing nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

piercing

[ˈpɪəsɪŋ] adj (gen) → penetrante; (cry) → lacerante, acuto/a; (wind, sarcasm) → pungente

pierce

(piəs) verb

1. (of pointed objects) to go into or through (something). The arrow pierced his arm; A sudden light pierced the darkness.

2. to make a hole in or through (something) with a pointed object. Pierce the lid before removing it from the jar.

ˈpiercing adjective

1. loud; shrill. a piercing scream.

2. (of cold weather, winds etc) sharp; intense. a piercing wind; piercing cold.

3. looking intently or sharply as though able to see through things. piercing eyes; a piercing glance.

ˈpiercingly adverb

ˈpiercingness noun

piercing

→ ثَقْب propichování piercing Piercing πίρσινγκ perforación, piercing lävistys piercing pirsing piercing ピアス 피어싱 piercing piercing przekłucie piercing пирсинг genomträngande การเจาะ delici lỗ bấm 穿刺

piercing

a. penetrante, agudo-a, dícese de un dolor profundo.

piercing

adj (pain) punzante (dolor); n piercing m (Ang), pirsin m (Ang), perforación f de partes del cuerpo para insertar aretes o pendientes

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

"For example, by all their common and familiar performances--throwing large objects into the air which never come down; causing plants to sprout, grow visibly and blossom, in bare ground chosen by spectators; putting a man into a wicker basket, piercing him through and through with a sword while he shrieks and bleeds, and then--the basket being opened nothing is there; tossing the free end of a silken ladder into the air, mounting it and disappearing."

View in context

I only knew that at the end of, I suppose, a quarter of an hour, an odorous dampness and roughness, chilling and piercing my trouble, had made me understand that I must have thrown myself, on my face, on the ground and given way to a wildness of grief.

View in context

He looked it, and the piercing glitter that arose at times in his eyes was the same piercing glitter I had observed in the eyes of caged leopards and other preying creatures of the wild.

View in context

She then turned her two piercing eyes elsewhere, whereon Jove's daughter Venus took Mars by the hand and led him away groaning all the time, for it was only with great difficulty that he had come to himself again.

View in context

A mum was shocked to find out the price of her daughter's ear piercing at Claire's which she'd had done as a birthday treat.

Mum shocked to find out daughter's birthday ear piercing from Claire's costs [pounds sterling]68; Joanna Lovell's six-year-old girl loves her earrings but the mum is sharing her story so other parents don't make the same 'mistake' she did

This is not the most hygienic approach, and it is one of the reasons Studex continues to lead and innovate in the ear piercing, fashion earring and after-care markets through a customer-centric approach focusing on health equity--i.e.

Studex allows simple luxury of self-expression

In reverse piercing, the court holds a corporation liable for a judgment against an owner.

Corporate veil pierced in reverse

THE intimate body-piercing law in Wales came into force on February 1 and applies to everybody in Wales, not just piercing businesses.

PARENT COLUMN

Wales has become the first country in the UK to introduce a nationwide ban on the intimate piercing of Under-18s.

Intimate piercings ban for Under-18s comes into force

South Miami, FL, October 28, 2014 --(PR.com)-- An innovative and highly functional improvement on a widely used shooting accessory, the Piercing Ammo, has been developed by Jimmy Baca of Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico.

Innovation Direct[TM] at Forefront of Marketing Initiative for Piercing Ammo Invention

He thinks having a nose piercing will having a nose piercing will ruin my life but I think he's ruin my life but I think he's being old-fashioned.