percolate

verb

per·co·late | \ ˈpər-kə-ˌlāt ,

nonstandard -kyə-

\

percolated; percolating

Definition of percolate

transitive verb

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

intransitive verb

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

Other Words from percolate Synonyms Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about percolate

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Did You Know?

Percolate comes from a Latin verb meaning "to put through a sieve". Something that percolates filters through something else, just as small particles pass through a sieve. Water is drawn downward through the soil, and this percolation usually cleans the water. A slow rain is ideal for percolating into the soil, since in a violent rainstorm most of it quickly runs off. For this reason, drip irrigation is the most effective and water-conserving form of irrigation. Percolation isn't always a physical process; awareness of an issue may percolate slowly into the minds of the public, just as Spanish words may gradually percolate into English, often starting in the Southwest.

Examples of percolate in a Sentence

Sunlight percolated down through the trees. Rumors percolated throughout the town. There is nothing like percolating coffee over an open campfire. Coffee was percolating on the stove.

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 2018

These 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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Dictionary Entries near percolate

percolating filter

Statistics for percolate

Last Updated

10 Sep 2018

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for percolate

The first known use of percolate was in 1626

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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

per·co·late | \ ˈpər-kə-ˌlāt

\

percolated; percolating

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

Other words from percolate

percolation \ˌpər-kə-ˈlā-shən \ noun

percolator \-ˌlā-tər \ noun

percolate

verb

per·co·late | \ ˈpər-kə-ˌlāt

\

percolated; percolating

Medical Definition of percolate

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

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

intransitive verb

1 : to ooze or trickle through a permeable substance

2 : to become percolated

percolate

noun

per·co·late | \ -ˌlāt ,

-lət

\

Medical Definition of percolate (Entry 2 of 2)

: a product of percolation

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