What is penetrate?

Penetrate means to go through something, like when you push your way into a crowd or slip through a small opening.

Imagine you're playing hide and seek, and you squeeze through the tiny space between two couches in the living room. That’s penetrating, you went from one side of the room to the other by going through something.

Like a Key in a Lock

Think about a key. When it goes into a lock, it moves through the little parts inside until it opens the door. The key penetrates the lock, just like you penetrate the space between the couches.

Or Like Water Through a Sieve

If you pour water through a sieve, the water goes through the holes in the sieve and ends up in the bowl below. That’s also penetrating, the water went from one place to another by going through something else.

So, whenever something goes through something else, like a key through a lock or you through a crowd, that’s what penetrate means!

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Examples

  1. A knife going through an apple.
  2. Water seeping into a sponge.
  3. A nail entering wood.

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