English

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Etymology

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From trans-pierce.

Verb

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transpierce (third-person singular simple present transpierces, present participle transpiercing, simple past and past participle transpierced)

  1. (transitive) To pierce through; to pass through.
    Synonyms: penetrate, permeate
    • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: []”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
      Now, while the angry trumpet sounds alarms, / And dying groans transpierce the wounded air []
    • 1599, [Thomas] Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, [], London: [] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert] B[urby] [], →OCLC, page 45:
      [F]oorthvvith her eyes bred her eye-ſore, the firſt vvhite vvhereon their tranſpiercing arrovves ſtuck, being the breathleſſe corps of Leander: vvith the ſodaine contemplation of this piteous ſpectacle of her loue, ſodden to haddocks meate, her ſorrovve could not chooſe but be indefinite, []
    • 1619, Michael Drayton, “[Odes.] To the New Yeere.”, in Cyril Brett, editor, Minor Poems of Michael Drayton, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, published 1907, →OCLC, page 59, lines 19–21:
      Giue her th' Eoan brightnesse, / Wing'd with that subtill lightnesse, / That doth trans-pierce the Ayre; []
    • 2010, John Howard Griffin, Nuni:
      The upblaze of reflected heat burns my cheeks and eyes. Her body swims before me, spangled and transpierced by shafts of light caught in my tears. I croak that I am sorry for having invaded her hut.

Anagrams

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