as in to penetrate
to spread throughout
with tie-dyeing, the dye does not interpenetrate the entire fabric
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Recent Examples of interpenetrate
Those canyons provide thousands of patches of natural habitat that interpenetrate the edges of greater Los Angeles.
—
Literary Hub, 8 Jan. 2026
The works that were being presented onstage, both blackface and ballet, were addressing themes that interpenetrated everyday life.
—Chava Pearl Lansky, JSTOR Daily, 30 July 2025
The strong medicine of Zen and other mystical traditions can flip us into a state of experiencing our whole Self—a boundless, selfless Self that interpenetrates with all that is.
—Ginny Whitelaw, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
Building and action interpenetrate in the courtyards, arcades, and stairways.
—Thomas Meaney, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2024
Water interpenetrates it, a gleaming, mercurial counter-spiral spooling into its open rockwork.
—Jennifer L. Roberts, The Atlantic, 9 Aug. 2023
Negative space and positive materiality interpenetrate in an extraordinary formal condensation of Cubist technique.
—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2022
With the degree that the two countries interpenetrate each other’s elite and intelligence establishments, think the Russian military couldn’t get a kill shot on President Volodymyr Zelensky?
—Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 12 Aug. 2022
Traditionalist Catholic ideas and values now interpenetrate conservative American political thought and nearly every political institution of consequence.
—Peter Hammond Schwartz, The New Republic, 3 Feb. 2021
Literary Hub, 8 Jan. 2026
The works that were being presented onstage, both blackface and ballet, were addressing themes that interpenetrated everyday life.
—Chava Pearl Lansky, JSTOR Daily, 30 July 2025
The strong medicine of Zen and other mystical traditions can flip us into a state of experiencing our whole Self—a boundless, selfless Self that interpenetrates with all that is.
—Ginny Whitelaw, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
Building and action interpenetrate in the courtyards, arcades, and stairways.
—Thomas Meaney, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2024
Water interpenetrates it, a gleaming, mercurial counter-spiral spooling into its open rockwork.
—Jennifer L. Roberts, The Atlantic, 9 Aug. 2023
Negative space and positive materiality interpenetrate in an extraordinary formal condensation of Cubist technique.
—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2022
With the degree that the two countries interpenetrate each other’s elite and intelligence establishments, think the Russian military couldn’t get a kill shot on President Volodymyr Zelensky?
—Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 12 Aug. 2022
Traditionalist Catholic ideas and values now interpenetrate conservative American political thought and nearly every political institution of consequence.
—Peter Hammond Schwartz, The New Republic, 3 Feb. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for interpenetrate
Verb
-
By then, Israeli intelligence had planted a bomb in a Revolutionary Guards guest house that, in addition to killing the political leader of Hamas in Gaza, also demonstrated its ability to penetrate the innermost sanctums of the Iranian regime.—
Richard Hall,
Time,
28 Feb. 2026
-
There may be multiple points where roots have penetrated.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
28 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
For months, an uncanny sense of calm suffused the forest.—
Robert Moor,
New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2026
-
The notion that Social Security faces a shortfall suffuses the national conversation about preparing for retirement.—
Medora Lee,
USA Today,
28 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Sardonic uncertainties about the solvency of the American Dream permeate every scene.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Advertisement Ideas of inclusion and diversity also permeate everyday institutions, including schools, universities, foundations, nonprofits, and corporations.—
Kenji Yoshino,
Time,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
An atmosphere of crisis pervades among the organizations responding to the mounting humanitarian challenges of the century.—
Time,
Time,
26 Feb. 2026
-
The warmer conditions that will pervade the Sierra Nevada also will take shape in the region following the departure of this week’s storm.—
Rick Hurd,
Mercury News,
23 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Interpenetrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/interpenetrate. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.
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