pen ‧ e ‧ trate /ˈpenətreɪt, ˈpenɪtreɪt/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: past participle of penetrare ]
1 . GO THROUGH [intransitive and transitive] to enter something and pass or spread through it, especially when this is difficult ⇨ pierce :
bullets that penetrate thick armour plating
Sunlight barely penetrated the dirty windows.
penetrate into
Explorers penetrated deep into unknown regions.
2 . BUSINESS [transitive] to start to sell things to an area or country, or to have an influence there:
Few U.S. companies have successfully penetrated the Japanese electronics market.
3 . ORGANIZATION [transitive] to succeed in becoming accepted into a group or an organization, sometimes in order to find out their secrets:
KGB agents had penetrated most of their intelligence services.
4 . UNDERSTAND formal
a) [transitive] to succeed in understanding something:
Science has penetrated the mysteries of nature.
b) [intransitive and transitive] to be understood, with difficulty:
What could I say that would penetrate his thick skull?
5 . SEX [transitive] if a man penetrates someone, he puts his ↑ penis into a woman’s ↑ vagina or into someone’s ↑ anus when having sex
6 . SEE THROUGH [transitive] to see into or through something when this is difficult:
My eyes couldn’t penetrate the gloom.