percolate

verb

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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 Along with the official optimism that percolates out of pamphlets, the milestone celebrations that seem aimed at children, the lemonade people squeeze out of their tumors. — Christian Wiman, Harper's magazine, "The Cancer Chair," 20 Jan. 2020 If my life were a pie chart, there would be a slice of about one-eighth that would represent the part of my life that was percolating along fairly well. — Liza Donnelly, The New Yorker, "How I Became a New Yorker Cartoonist," 10 Oct. 2019 Their mutual irritation clearly has been percolating since long before Allison showed up. — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Black Bear': Film Review | Sundance 2020," 27 Jan. 2020 In this case, water getting inside of the stainless steel container would percolate into the narrow space between the glass and the steel. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Planned nuclear storage material could decay faster than expected," 27 Jan. 2020 Discussions on how to deal with vaping in high schools continue to percolate among city and school officials in light of an increase in police citations for minors in possession of tobacco and vaping products. — Aubrey Wieber, Anchorage Daily News, "Increase in vaping citations by Anchorage police mirrors surge in vaping at schools," 11 Dec. 2019 But there’s a reason trade speculation involving Griffin percolated last week. — Vince Ellis, Detroit Free Press, "How Blake Griffin's latest setback affects Detroit Pistons now and in the future," 23 Oct. 2019 One of the nation's leading gun-control groups is warning presidential candidates that mandatory gun buybacks are not especially popular, even as that debate percolates within the Democratic field. — NBC News, "Leading gun control group warns candidates 'mandatory buybacks could be dangerous' politically," 16 Oct. 2019 Ignore him and allow his arguments to percolate unchecked through the conservative media ecosystem. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Analysis: Trump sees few limits in bid for reelection," 23 Sep. 2019

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.