Permeate \Per"me*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Permeated; p. pr. &
vb. n. Permeating.] [L. permeatus, p. p. of permeare to
permeate; per + meare to go, pass.]
1. To pass through the pores or interstices of; to penetrate
and pass through without causing rupture or displacement;
-- applied especially to fluids which pass through
substances of loose texture; as, water permeates sand.
--Woodward.
[1913 Webster]
2. To enter and spread through; to pervade; as, after the
first setback, the team became permeated with pessimism.
[1913 Webster]
God was conceived to be diffused throughout the
whole world, to permeate and pervade all things.
--Cudworth.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
permeate
v 1: spread or diffuse through; "An atmosphere of distrust has
permeated this administration"; "music penetrated the
entire building" [syn: pervade, penetrate, interpenetrate,
diffuse, imbue]
2: pass through; "Water permeates sand easily" [syn: percolate,
sink in, filter]
3: penetrate mutually or be interlocked; "The territories of
two married people interpenetrate a lot" [syn: interpenetrate]
WordNet (r) 2.0
66 Moby Thesaurus words for "permeate":
bathe, bespread, besprinkle, breathe, brew, charge, color,
crawl with, creep with, decoct, diffuse, douche, dredge, drench,
drouk, dye, enter, entincture, extend throughout, fill, flavor,
flush, honeycomb, imbrue, imbue, impregnate, infiltrate, infuse,
ingrain, inject, instill, interfuse, interpenetrate, invade, lave,
leach, leave no void, leaven, lixiviate, macerate, occupy, overrun,
overspread, overswarm, penetrate, percolate, pervade, rinse,
run through, saturate, season, seethe, soak, sodden, sop, souse,
steep, suffuse, swarm with, teem with, temper, tincture, tinge,
transfuse, wash, waterlog
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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