puncture

When you puncture something, you make a hole in it. Stick a pin in a balloon and you'll not only make kids cry, you'll also puncture the balloon.

Use the verb puncture to describe poking a sharp object into something. You can call the hole you've made a puncture as well: get a big enough puncture in your car tire and you'll need to call for help. In Latin, punctus means "to prick or pierce." The hardest thing about puncture is knowing how to spell it — remember that there's a c in the middle, and you'll probably get it right.

Definitions of puncture

v pierce with a pointed object; make a hole into

“puncture a tire”

Types:: scarify
puncture and scar (the skin), as for purposes or tribal identification or rituals

Type of:: pierce
make a hole into

v make by piercing

“puncture a hole”

Type of:: create, make
make or cause to be or to become

v cause to lose air pressure or collapse by piercing

“puncture an air balloon”

Type of:: decompress, depressurise, depressurize
decrease the pressure of

v be pierced or punctured

“The tire punctured”

Type of:: break, come apart, fall apart, separate, split up
become separated into pieces or fragments

v reduce or lessen the size or importance of

Synonyms:: deflate

Type of:: deprecate, depreciate, vilipend
belittle

n the act of puncturing or perforating

Types:: show 10 types...; hide 10 types...; centesis
(surgery) the act of puncturing a body cavity or organ with a hollow needle in order to draw out fluid; perforation
the act of punching a hole (especially a row of holes as for ease of separation); prick, pricking
the act of puncturing with a small point; venipuncture
(medicine) puncture of a vein through the skin in order to withdraw blood for analysis or to start an intravenous drip or to inject medication or a radiopaque dye; abdominocentesis, paracentesis
centesis of the belly to remove fluid for diagnosis; amnio, amniocentesis
(pregnancy) extraction by centesis of amniotic fluid from a pregnant woman (after the 15th week of pregnancy) to aid in the diagnosis of fetal abnormalities; arthrocentesis
removal of fluid from a joint by centesis; celiocentesis
removal of fluid from the abdomen by centesis; lumbar puncture, spinal puncture, spinal tap
removal by centesis of fluid from the subarachnoid space of the lumbar region of the spinal cord for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes; thoracentesis, thoracocentesis
removal of fluid from the chest by centesis for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes

Type of:: activity
any specific behavior

n a small hole made by a sharp object

Types:: pinhole
a small puncture that might have been made by a pin; pinprick
small puncture (as if made by a pin)

Type of:: hole
an opening deliberately made in or through something

n loss of air pressure in a tire when a hole is made by some sharp object

Type of:: misadventure, mischance, mishap
an instance of misfortune