Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Language: Latin
Origin: , past participle of percolare 'to put through a sieve'

percolate

 verb
     
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per‧co‧late
1 [intransitive] if an idea, feeling, or piece of information percolates through a group, it gradually spreads
percolate through/down
The message has begun to percolate through the organization.
These ideas were slow to percolate.
2 [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if liquid, light, or air percolates somewhere, it passes slowly through a material that has very small holes in it
percolate through/down/into
Rainwater percolates down through the rock.
3 [intransitive and transitive] also perkDFD if coffee percolates, or if you percolate it, you make it in a special pot in which hot water goes up through a tube and then passes down through crushed coffee beans
—percolation noun [uncountable and countable]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
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