Topic: ORGANIZATIONS
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| Date: | 1500-1600 |
| Language: | Latin |
| Origin: | , past participle of penetrare |
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pen‧e‧trate
1 to enter something and pass or spread through it, especially when this is difficult [↪ pierce]: 
bullets that penetrate thick armour platingSunlight barely penetrated the dirty windows.
go through
[intransitive and transitive]bullets that penetrate thick armour platingSunlight barely penetrated the dirty windows.2 to start to sell things to an area or country, or to have an influence there : Few U.S. companies have successfully penetrated the Japanese electronics market.
business
[transitive]BBTFew U.S. companies have successfully penetrated the Japanese electronics market.3 to succeed in becoming accepted into a group or an organization, sometimes in order to find out their secrets : KGB agents had penetrated most of their intelligence services.
organization
[transitive]SSOPPGKGB agents had penetrated most of their intelligence services.4
understand
formala) [transitive] to succeed in understanding something : Science has penetrated the mysteries of nature.
Science has penetrated the mysteries of nature.b) [intransitive and transitive] to be understood, with difficulty :
5 if a man penetrates someone, he puts his penis into a woman's vagina or into someone's anus when having sex
sex
[transitive]HBH6 to see into or through something when this is difficult : My eyes couldn't penetrate the gloom.
see through
[transitive]My eyes couldn't penetrate the gloom.