percolate

verb

per·co·late | \ ˈpər-kə-ˌlāt

, nonstandard -kyə-

percolated; percolating

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

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

And yet slowly but surely, the trend is beginning to percolate here. — Rachel Hahn, Vogue, "Caroline Polachek Turns a Sick Day Into a Major Fashion Moment," 28 Jan. 2019 Your taps of buttons (d-pad left and right, d-pad up and down, block rotation) typically come with sound effects and musical notes, and the taps' associated notes are often in sync with whatever background music is percolating. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "Tetris Effect review: The puzzle game of my dreams—literally," 9 Nov. 2018 Nets optimism began to percolate in the wake of the Kyrie Irving deal and persisted for almost half the year. — Andrew Sharp, SI.com, "Rockets Skepticism, Lakers Coaching, and the Worst Takes of the NBA Season," 14 Mar. 2018 The moving-to-Europe idea had been percolating for a while by then. — Marian Schembari, Good Housekeeping, "We Left America for a Better Life – And We're Saving Tons of Money," 18 Feb. 2016 The immediate prospect is for the trade dispute to percolate for the remainder of this year, gradually ratcheting up the economic pain in both countries. — Danielle Paquette, The Seattle Times, "New round of US-China tariffs raise fears of an economic Cold War," 18 Sep. 2018 Some of the best tech, the kind with staying power, has been percolating for years, often after failing miserably at first. — Stefanos Chen, The Seattle Times, "Real estate technology that could have a lasting effect on housing," 20 Nov. 2018 The 21c Museum Hotel brand chose Kansas City for its latest endeavor, piggybacking on the river city’s percolating art scene (from $185 a night, 21cmuseumhotels.com). — Christian L. Wright, WSJ, "The 10 Most Intriguing Travel Destinations for 2019," 23 Oct. 2018 With the 2018 Emmys just around the corner, conversations have been percolating around representation on television. — Julyssa Lopez, Glamour, "Representation for Latina Actors Is at an All-Time High—But It's Still Not Enough," 11 Sep. 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.