percolate
verb
nonstandard
-kyə-
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Definition of percolate
1a : to cause (a solvent) to pass through a permeable substance (such as a powdered drug) especially for extracting a soluble constituent
b : to prepare (coffee) in a percolator
2 : to be diffused through : penetrate
1 : to ooze or trickle through a permeable substance : seep
2a : to become percolated
b : to become lively or effervescent
3 : to spread gradually allow the sunlight to percolate into our rooms —Norman Douglas
4 : simmer sense 2a the feud had been percolating for a long time
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Other words from percolate
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noun
Synonyms for percolate
Synonyms
bleed, exude, ooze, seep, strain, sweat, weep
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Examples of percolate in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Folks can and do drive right past it, unaware of the creative ideas percolating inside. — Mary Colurso, AL.com, "Cool Spaces: This live-work building in Crestwood makes artists' dreams come true," 19 Apr. 2018 For that matter, that earlier generation of artists also was inclined to find metaphysical ideas percolating in their all-over painterly abstraction. — Mike Giuliano, Howard County Times, "Artist gets metaphysical at Columbia Art Center," 6 July 2018 Among the many brilliant ideas percolating in Ryan Murphy's brain is a take on the #MeToo movement that follows an anthology formula. — Rebecca Farley, refinery29.com, "What Do You Get When You Combine #MeToo & Black Mirror? A New Ryan Murphy Show," 7 May 2018 Signs of trouble at the Charlotte School of Law percolated for years. — Jon Marcus /, NBC News, "As the Trump administration pulls back, states step in to regulate questionable colleges," 6 July 2018 As her initial ambivalence to education shows, milder forms of the idea behind Boko Haram have been percolating in Nigerian society for generations. — Mark Sappenfield, The Christian Science Monitor, "Nigeria’s schoolgirl rebellion," 26 June 2018 Concern about Taiwan -- and recent sparring between Beijing and Washington over the democratically run island -- percolated discussions at the annual IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, which was otherwise focused on action further south. — Keith Zhai, Bloomberg.com, "As U.S. Confronts China on Trade, Taiwan Tensions Quietly Build," 3 June 2018 Concerns about the link between violent video games and real acts of violence have percolated for decades. — Alex Horton, Washington Post, "What Parkland parents think of a new video game that lets people shoot up a school," 29 May 2018 His slowly percolating version of live, moody electronica saw the crowd swell in front of him over the course of his one-hour set. — Annabel Ross, Billboard, "Ten Things That Proved Sónar Barcelona Is a Music Festival Unlike Any Other," 21 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'percolate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for percolate
percolate
verb
English Language Learners Definition of percolate
: to pass slowly through something that has many small holes in it
: to spread slowly
: to make (coffee) in a special pot (called a percolator)
See the full definition for percolate in the English Language Learners Dictionary
percolate
verb
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Kids Definition of percolate
1 : to trickle or cause to trickle through something porous : ooze Water percolated through sand.
2 : to prepare (coffee) by passing hot water through ground coffee beans again and again
percolate
verb
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Medical Definition of percolate
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : to cause (a solvent) to pass through a permeable substance (as a powdered drug) especially for extracting a soluble constituent
2 : to be diffused through
percolate
noun
-lət
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Medical Definition of percolate (Entry 2 of 2)
: a product of percolation
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