piercing

adjective

pierc·ing | \ ˈpir-siŋ

Definition of piercing

(Entry 1 of 2)

: penetrating: such as

a : loud, shrill piercing cries

b : perceptive piercing eyes

c : penetratingly cold : biting a piercing wind

d : cutting, incisive piercing sarcasm

piercing

noun

Definition of piercing (Entry 2 of 2)

: a piece of jewelry (such as a ring or stud) that is attached to pierced flesh

Other Words from piercing Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about piercing

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Examples of piercing in a Sentence

Adjective

She looked at me with piercing eyes, and I was suddenly frightened that she knew what I had done. I tried to avoid his piercing stare. She felt a piercing sadness when she heard the news.

Noun

There's a small shop in town where they do tattooing and body piercing. She got another ear piercing.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

But the visualization shows the midsection buzz transforming into a more piercing screech to overcome the pump’s din. — Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times, "Near Noisy Oil Fields, Lovesick Birds Change Their Tunes," 13 Mar. 2018 Making her ice blue gaze that much more piercing, glowing skin and a rosy nude pigment (courtesy of Dior’s new Addict Lacquer Plump lip stain in Lovely-D) rounded out the look. — Lauren Valenti, Vogue, "Inside Paris Jackson’s Rock 'n' Roll Beauty Diary at the Dior Party in L.A.," 15 Mar. 2018 And when Marjorie Prime, still working out a fraught relationship with her daughter, streams a favorite song of the younger woman's as a peace offering, what unfolds is one of the most piercing moments in movies this year. — Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, "Critic's Notebook: In 'Marjorie Prime,' Lois Smith Gets Her Greatest Screen Role," 27 Nov. 2017 There are no words to describe the piercing loss Winchester felt on the worst day of his life. — Vahe Gregorian, kansascity, "Forgiveness and faith buoy Chiefs’ James Winchester through murder of his father," 22 Sep. 2017 One of the first instances of body art practitioners asking to be regulated was in Florida, where a piercing law was enacted in 1999 with input from the industry. — Marsha Mercer, Washington Post, "How safe and sanitary is ‘body art’? Laws regulating tattoos, piercing vary widely.," 25 June 2017 But Cornell still emerged as one of alternative-rock’s ultimate heartthrobs for his long, curly hair, fondness for going shirtless and piercing eyes. — Chris Macias, sacbee.com, "Why Gen X - and rockers everywhere - are mourning Chris Cornell," 18 May 2017 But his piercing skill was enough to instill fear in the Panamanian soccer team, which responded with brute force in a 1-1 draw with the United States on Tuesday night. — David Waldstein, New York Times, "Christian Pulisic of U.S. Becomes a Target, but Makes His Mark Anyway," 29 Mar. 2017 More muscles and more lustrous hair and more piercing eyes. — Kenzie Bryant, Vanities, "Jon Hamm Wants to Prove How Many Beautiful People Are Funny, Too," 19 June 2017

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Simple: few works of literature since Homer can match the piercing, unshakably humane gaze that Grossman turns on the haggard face of war. — The Economist, "Vasily Grossman, the greatest bard of the second world war," 7 June 2019 Now, check out these stories about piercings: Done reading? — Kaleigh Fasanella, Allure, "A Man Had Part of His Ear Cut Out in a Controversial “Conch Removal” Procedure," 28 Mar. 2019 But the four-ish minutes of TV was mesmerizing, a strange piercing of the Bravo forcefield that usually manages to keep the goings-on of the real world separate from besmirching the antics of its cast. — Bridget Read, Vogue, "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," 17 Apr. 2019 The mother and daughter eventually left without a piercing after Marks took a step away from the situation. — Glamour, "Former Claire’s Employee Says Store’s Child Ear-Piercing Policy Is ‘Deeply Flawed’," 10 Apr. 2019 And even physically, like the way they're described in the book, their faces are full of piercings and all this stuff. — Gabe Bergado, Teen Vogue, "Josephine Langford on the Romance of "After," Bringing to Life Tessa, and Crying Fans," 22 Apr. 2019 With multiple piercings and an ear-gage, Maximus brought a stylish edge to collections like Dior. — Vogue, "Meet the Top 14 Models of Fall 2019," 13 Mar. 2019 His tattoos, piercings, gender-fluid dress and ever-changing hair color were virtually unheard of at the time and drew almost as much attention as his ability to read the trajectory of a shot and get the rebound. — Katherine Rosenberg-douglas, chicagotribune.com, "Ex-Chicago Bulls star turned North Korean, uh, diplomat Dennis Rodman weeps over Kim-Trump summit," 12 June 2018 The upside is the pain of the present is producing some shake-us-out-of-it fashion at houses like Gucci (those masks!), Marni (piercings), and Prada (Frankenstein’s monster). — Nicole Phelps, Vogue, "The Top Shows of Milan Fashion Week Fall 2019," 25 Feb. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'piercing.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.