percolate

verb per·co·late \ ˈpər-kə-ˌlāt , nonstandard -kyə- \

|Updated on: 18 Jun 2018

Definition of percolate

percolated; percolating

1 a : 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

2 a : 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 2a

the feud had been percolating for a long time

—

percolation

play \ˌpər-kə-ˈlā-shən\ noun

See percolate defined for English-language learners

See percolate defined for kids

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 of percolate from the Web

Hints of the Cattrall-Parker feud have been percolating since the show ended in 2004, and Cattrall chose to sit away from her co-stars at that year’s Emmys.

— refinery29.com, "Don't Let The Sex And The City Cast’s Notorious Infighting Complicate The Show’s Legacy," 8 June 2018
Ivie pointed out that good things are percolating on the campus, such as the return of residency programs for the Drew University medical students at the new MLK hospital.

— laura bleiberg, latimes.com, "These dancers find a most unusual stage: A South L.A. hospital," 24 May 2018
Detroit band Protomartyr's best album crackles with unrelenting dread, which percolates out from frontman Joe Casey's mad-prophet ravings.

— zach schonfeld, Newsweek, "The 17 Best Albums of 2017: Kendrick Lamar, Lorde and Other Favorites," 22 Dec. 2017
The beguiling psychedelia of these polyphonic Parisians has percolated through France’s music scene since their debut album in 2013.

— efrain dorado, RedEye Chicago, "5 must-see concerts in Chicago this week: Ratboys, Julien Baker, Girlpool," 17 Oct. 2017
Certain things flow down from author to author, book to book, just percolating over time.

— joe fassler, The Atlantic, "What Richard Pryor’s Stand-Up Can Teach Writers," 31 May 2018
Because of the anti-Washington sentiment percolating across Ohio, Cordray has often sought to focus on the Buckeye State, period.

— chrissie thompson, Cincinnati.com, "Ohio governor's race: Will we see Barack Obama, Donald Trump?," 9 May 2018
Descriptions of Half Dome’s glory percolated to magazines and newspapers back East, spurring hundreds of tourists to make the pilgrimage.

— david ferry, San Francisco Chronicle, "The best way to see Yosemite? From the back of a mule.," 26 Apr. 2018
Though Bound officially began in 2016, the concept had been percolating in Rex’s brain since 2012.

— rachel hahn, Vogue, "See the Boundary-Pushing BDSM Fashion at Bound, a Queer Fetish Techno Party in Brooklyn," 16 May 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.

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.