Hypertext Webster Gateway: "penetrating"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Penetrating \Pen"e*tra`ting\, a.
1. Having the power of entering, piercing, or pervading;
sharp; subtile; penetrative; as, a penetrating odor.
2. Acute; discerning; sagacious; quick to discover; as, a
penetrating mind.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Penetrate \Pen"e*trate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Penetrated}; p.
pr. & vb. n. {Penetrating}.] [L. penetratus, p. p. of
penetrare to penetrate; akin to penitus inward, inwardly, and
perh. to pens with, in the power of, penus store of food,
innermost part of a temple.]
1. To enter into; to make way into the interior of; to effect
an entrance into; to pierce; as, light penetrates
darkness.
2. To affect profoundly through the senses or feelings; to
touch with feeling; to make sensible; to move deeply; as,
to penetrate one's heart with pity. --Shak.
The translator of Homer should penetrate himself
with a sense of the plainness and directness of
Homer's style. --M. Arnold.
3. To pierce into by the mind; to arrive at the inner
contents or meaning of, as of a mysterious or difficult
subject; to comprehend; to understand.
Things which here were too subtile for us to
penetrate. --Ray.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
penetrating
adj 1: 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" [syn: {acute}, {discriminating}, {incisive},
{keen}, {knifelike}, {penetrative}, {piercing}, {sharp}]
2: tending to penetrate; having the power of entering or
piercing; "a toxic penetrative spray applied to the
surface"; "a cold penetrating wind"; "a penetrating odor"
[syn: {penetrative}]
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