MSN home
Mail
My MSN
encarta
greeting cards
encarta
®
Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
perfectionist
perfective
perfectly
perfecto
perfervid
perfidy
perfin
perfoliate
perforate
perforated
perforation
perforce
perforin
perform
performance
performance appraisal
performance art
Also available:
World English Dictionary
Dictionnaire Français
perforate
per·fo·rate
[
púrfə ràyt
]
verb
(
past and past participle
per·fo·ra·ted
,
present participle
per·fo·rat·ing
,
3rd person present singular
per·fo·rates
)
Definition:
1.
transitive verb
puncture something:
to make a hole or holes in something
2.
transitive verb
make holes for tearing:
to make a line of small holes in paper to make tearing it easier
3.
intransitive verb
penetrate something:
to penetrate or pass through something
adjective
Definition:
1.
biology
with small holes:
dotted with small holes
2.
biology
with transparent spots:
dotted with transparent spots
3.
stamps
Same as
perforated
(sense 1)
[
Mid-16th century. < Latin
perforat-
, past participle of
perforare
"bore through" <
forare
"to bore"
]
per·fo·ra·ble
adjective
per·fo·ra·tive
[
púrfərətiv,
púrfə ràytiv
]
adjective
per·fo·ra·tor
noun
per·fo·ra·to·ry
[
púrfərə tàwree
]
adjective
Encarta® World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © & (P)2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Advertisement
MSN Privacy
Legal
Advertise
Feedback
Help
© 2009 Microsoft