▪ I. pierce, v.
(pɪəs)
Forms: α. 3–6 perce, (4 parse), 4–6 perse, Sc. perss(e, 5 peerce, peerse, 6 Sc. peirs(e, pers, pairse, 6–7 pearce, pearse, pierse, 6–8 peirce, 6– pierce. β. 4–5 persche, persshe, perisse, -ische, perisshe, -issche, 4–6 perch(e, perish(e, 5 pershe, peresche, 5–6 perysshe, 6–7 (9 dial.) pearch.
[a. OF. percer, earlier percier (11–12th c., also persier 13th c.), ONF. perchier, mod. Picard percher; ulterior etymology uncertain.
Ménage, Diez, Burguy, Hatz.-Darm. take percer as:—L. type *pertusiāre, deriv. of L. pertundĕre to thrust or bore through (pa. pple. pertūsus, n. of action pertūsio), although the contraction pertusier, pert'sier, percier is violent, and there are the full forms F. pertuiser, Pr. pertusar, It. pertugiare. For other conjectures see Littré and Scheler. The β-forms appear to have been confused with those of perish v.]
1. trans. To penetrate, or run through or into (a substance), as a sharp-pointed instrument does; of an agent: to thrust (anything) through with such an instrument; to stab, prick, puncture.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9019 Þei it ne percede noȝt þat yre þat blod vaste adoun drou. c 1315 Shoreham Poems (E.E.T.S.) i. 2209 Þo hand and fet and al hys lymes I-persed were ine payne. 1375 Barbour Bruce xiv. 292 Scottis men..perssit thar armyng. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xvi. viii. 675 Thenne they came to gyders with suche a raundon that they perced their sheldes and their hauberkes. 1526 Tindale John xix. 37 They shall loke on hym, whom they pearsed. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vi. 43 They perst both plate and maile. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. iii. 59 If Percy be aliue, Ile pierce him: if he do come in my way. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Piercing, among farriers.—To pierce a horse's shoe lean, is to pierce it too near the edge of the iron.—To pierce it fat is to pierce it further in. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 201 Pierce my vein, Take of the crimson stream meand'ring there, And catechise it well. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. ix. 62 The mighty Aiguilles piercing the sea of air. Ibid. ii. xi. 290, I pierced the ice with the auger, drove in the stake, and descended. |
| β 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 189 Were þe myddel of myn honde ymaymed or ypersshed [v.rr. ypersed, I-perisshed]. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 5301 Þe nayles three, & þe croune, þat perschede cryst on ys passyoune. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxi. 94 So þat þe bark be perched; and þan commez oute a licour thikk. c 1500 Joseph Arim. (W. de W.) 31 His..handes & feet perysshed with the spere & nayles. |
| absol. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 288 Men stable in bileue ben a þick walle to turnen aȝen þis þondir þat it persiþ noȝt. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 118 It is..as commendable to pearce to the bone, as to pare the skinne. |
| fig. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 256 b, It myght not swage the malyce of the iewes, ne..pearse theyr pryde. 1557 N. T. (Genev.) 1 Tim. vi. 10 They erred from the faith, and perced them selues throwe with many sorowes. |
b. transf. and fig.; spec. said of the penetrating action of cold, etc.
| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 294, I telle him schent, If he mai perce him with his tunge. 1563 Mirr. Mag., Induct. 4 With chilling cold had pearst the tender green. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 673 A scabby Tetter on their Pelts will stick, When the raw Rain has pierc'd them to the quick. 1832 H. Martineau Ireland iii. 44 Gusts of wind..piercing her with cold through her scanty raiment. |
| absol. 1562 W. Bullein Bulwark, Dial. Soarnes & Chir. 2 Colde weather draweth nere,..Borias perseth. |
c. With various constructions and extensions.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 3675 Þe thinnest was a nynche thicke quen þai ware þurȝe persed. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9477 Paris..Waited the wegh in his wit ouer, In what plase of his person to perse of his wede. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) i. 99 I shall not spare..with sharpe sword to perse them all bare. 1535 Coverdale 2 Kings xviii. 21 This broken staffe of rede..which who leaneth vpon, it shall go in to his hande, & pearse it thorow. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xix. II. 153 His only son..was pierced through the heart by a javelin. 1840 Thirlwall Greece VII. lvii. 216 Neoptolemus..pierced him in the groin. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 104 Could I so stand by And see my dear lord..pierced to death? |
2. To make a hole, opening, or tunnel into or through (something); to bore through, perforate; to broach (a cask, etc.).
| 13.. Seuyn Sag. (W.) 1148 In a thousand stede he let the tonne perce. c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. i. §3 The moder of thin Astrelabie is þe thikkeste plate, perced with a large hole. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. ix. 160 This must be doon by persyng the mountayn The water so to lede into the playn. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 231 Marcus pereschenge the walle of the cite [Trevisa, made an hole þorwe þe wal]. 1579 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 429 Any suche butte or hogsed..pearched or drauin. 1656 Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 211/2 Whensoever he pierced a Vessel of Wine, it was sowred before he spent it. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 200 A neat Brazen Door..pierced through to let in light from above. 1798 Hull Advertiser 14 Apr. 2/4 Le Ceres, French ship privateer pierced for 14 guns. 1849 Curzon Visits Monast. (1897) 140 The mountain of Quarantina..is pierced all over with the caves excavated by the ancient anchorites. 1853 Hobbs & Tomlinson Locks xi. 159 The process of piercing the key consists in making the pipe or barrel. |
b. To make (a hole, etc.) by piercing.
| c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 127 Yitte may we, by the persed holes well,..Behalde and see, that [etc.]. 1538 Elyot, Foro..to perce or boore a hole. 1703 [see piercer 4]. 1859 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-Bks. II. 281 Narrow loopholes, pierced through the immensely thick wall. 1884 Bagshawe in Law Times 14 June 120/2 Valliant..pierced a doorway between the forge and the adjacent cottage. |
3. To force one's way through or into; to succeed in penetrating; to break through or into; to break (an enemy's line). Also fig.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 391 Corineus..made is wey bi eiþer side & percede þe route. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 302 Suche lewide iottis Percen wiþ a pater noster þe paleis of heuene. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) V. 95 Alexander persynge the costes of Ynde in xij. yere. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 136 Nature..made the rayne droppes rounde for quicke percynge the ayer. Ibid. 138 These [arrow] heades be good..to perche a wynde wythal. 1555 Eden Decades To Rdr. (Arb.) 51 Neyther dydde any of his shyppes..perce the Ocean. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iv. Prol. 11 Steed threatens Steed, in high and boastfull Neighs Piercing the Nights dull Eare. 1639 S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 84 His magnificence and liberality..pierced the eyes of the people, and made him commendable. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 356 Where the might of Gabriel fought, And with fierce Ensignes pierc'd the deep array Of Moloc furious King. 1731 Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope I. 83 Some of them..had pierc'd the country several ways by command. 1878 H. M. Stanley Dark Cont. II. xii. 334 The wide wild land which, by means of the greatest river of Africa, we have pierced. |
4. To reach or penetrate with the sight or the mind; to see thoroughly into, discern. (Not now used with a personal or concrete obj. as in quot. 1640.)
| a 1400–50 Alexander 5537 Þat he miȝt..with his seȝt persee Ane & othire & all þing. c 1450 Holland Howlat 318 Ernes..Quhilk in the firmament..Perses the sone, with thar sicht selcouth to herd. 1563 T. Gale Antidot. Pref. 2 The hard names of medicines by oft reding will be persed. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World ii. (1634) 374 [This] is wide of Saint Paul's meaning, so farre as my weak understanding can pierce it. 1640 Prerog. Parl. in Eng. in Select. fr. Harl. Misc. (1793) 244 My lord, learn of me, that there is none of you all, that can pierce the king. 1748 Johnson Van. Hum. Wishes 64 Attentive..to..pierce each scene with philosophick eye! 1814 Cary Dante, Paradise xxviii. liii, Contemplating, I fail to pierce the cause. 1850 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. iii. (1872) 36 He pierced the mysteries of nature. |
† b. To ‘go into’ (a matter), to examine. Obs.
| 1640 Yorke Union Hon., Battels 12 Presently a Parliament was called at London, where matters being pierced againe, the King's side grew stronger dayly. |
5. To penetrate with pain, grief, or other emotion; to wound or affect keenly; to touch or move deeply. In pierce the heart, the notion is often more or less physical.
| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love Prol. 8 Rude wordes and boystous percen the herte of the herer to the inrest point. a 1400–50 Alexander 5158 It miȝt a persid any hert to here how scho wepid. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xix. (Percy Soc.) 88 O lady clere! that perste me at the rote. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 126 Can no prayers pierce thee? 1614 Raleigh Hist. World iii. (1634) 27 Cyrus being pierc't with Crœsus answer. 1715–20 Pope Iliad xi. 323 While pierc'd with grief the much-lov'd youth he view'd. 1833 Tennyson Fatima v, My heart, pierced thro' with fierce delight. |
6. intr. To enter, penetrate, or pass, as something sharp-pointed, into or through; † to make one's (or its) way into, to, through; transf. to project or jut sharply, have direction. Also fig.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 85 Som of þe Iewes parsed among oþere and come with ynne þe paleys gate. c 1440 Generydes 2965 Thorough owt ye harnes persid ye spere. 1557 N. T. (Genev.) Luke ii. 35 Yea and a sword shal pearce through thy soule. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 9 They haue not pearst into the maine lande. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 242 So high a hope, that euen Ambition cannot pierce a winke beyond. 1629 R. Hill Pathw. Piety (ed. Pickering) I. Pref. 4 True prayer..pierceth thither, whither flesh cannot come. 1639 Fuller Holy War iii. xiii. (1840) 137 King Richard..intended to pierce through Germany by land, the nearest way home. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 99 Where wounds of deadly hate have peirc'd so deep. 1698 J. Keill Exam. The. Earth (1734) 241 It is suppos'd..that..the heat of the Sun must have peirced thro' the Crust of the Earth, and reached the Abyss. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 89 My lord Craven..pierced in with us, fighting gallantly in the breach. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton xxi, Narrow promontories, piercing out into the water. |
b. transf. and fig. To penetrate with the mind or the sight into (anything); to see into.
| 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Gal. 15 Ye cleaue to the litterall meanyng onely, and pearce not to the spiritual sence therof. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 242 So farre foorth as my dimme and darke eyesight is able to pearce into the view of his vertues. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 68, I cannot tell What Heauen hath giuen him: let some Grauer eye Pierce into that. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. iii. 66 There was no piercing with the eye..into the plantation. 1850 Robertson Serm. Ser. i. xvi. (1866) 269 It was reserved for One to pierce with the glance of intuition. |
▪ II. pierce, n. rare.
[f. prec.]
The act or process of piercing; a hole made by piercing.
| 1613 R. Cawdrey Table Alph. (ed. 3), Perforation, hole, or pierce through. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. iii. 89/2 Pearses.., the holes in the [horse] shooe. 1819 Keats Isabella xxxiv, Like a lance, Waking an Indian from his cloudy hall With cruel pierce. |
▪ III. † pierce, a. Obs. nonce-wd.
[f. pierce v.; in quot. perh. with punning allusion to the name Percy.]
Piercing, sharp, keen, fierce.
| 1593 B. Barnes Parthenophil & Parthenophe Sonn. xliv. in Arb. Eng. Garner V. 365 That Saints divine, are known Saints by their mercy! And Saint-like beauty should not rage with pierce eye! Ibid. xlvi. ibid. 366 Ah, pierce-eye piercing eye, and blazing light! |