To pierce into or through; enter and make way into the inner or interior parts of: as, the rays of light penetrated the thick darkness of the cave.To enter and affect deeply; influence; impress; hence, to enter and become part of; permeate: as, to be penetrated with a sense of gratitude.To arrive at the inner contents or the meaning of; see through; discern; discover: as, to penetrate a mystery; to penetrate a design.Synonyms Penetrate, Pierce, Perforate, Bore through, Transfix. Penetrate may mean no more than to make entrance into, and that slowly or with some difficulty, or it may have the meaning of pierce. Pierce means to penetrate deeply and quickly, and therefore presumably, although not necessarily, with some sharp instrument. (See Heb. iv. 12.) Perforate and bore through mean to make a hole through, the former generally expressing the making of a smaller hole, the latter expressing sustained labor or slowness: as, the book-worm perforates leather binding; the carpenter bores through a beam; a bullet perforates or pierces the body. To transfix is to pierce through, the instrument remaining in that which is transfixed: as, to transfix a bird with an arrow; to transfix a butterfly with a pin.To enter by piercing; pass, as a piercing instrument; enter and make way; reach by piercing: literally or figuratively: usually followed by to or into.