MEANING
To pierce through a surface or wall, making one or more holes.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- perforate a membrane
- perforate the bowel
On the page
The wire perforated the membrane before she could pull it back.
Fragments had perforated the outer casing in a ragged line.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- perforate
- Past tense
- perforated
- Past participle
- perforated
- Present participle
- perforating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- perforate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are perforating
- Present perfect
- have/has perforated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been perforating
- Past
- perforated
- Past continuous
- was/were perforating
- Past perfect
- had perforated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been perforating
- Future
- will perforate
- Future continuous
- will be perforating
- Future perfect
- will have perforated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been perforating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Forms: perforate; perforates; perforated; perforated; perforating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: perforates.
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