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penetrating |
3 definitions found 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 1.6 [wn]: penetrating adj : 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}]
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