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piercing

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piercing

  • /ˈpɪɹsɪŋ/ US
  • /ˈpɪəsɪŋ/ UK

Rhymes with -ɪə(ɹ)sɪŋ

Where it comes from

From pierce + -ing.

verb

  1. gerund, participle, present present participle and gerund of pierce

noun piercings

  1. countable, gerund, uncountable gerund of pierce
  2. countable, uncountable A hole made in the body so that jewellery can be worn through it. ear piercing
  3. countable, uncountable An item of jewellery designed to be fitted through a piercing (noun sense 2).

adjective more piercing · most piercing

  1. Appearing to look deeply into; penetrating. piercing eyes

    Similar: gimlety

  2. Of temperature, extremely cold so that it penetrates through clothing and shelter.

    Similar: raw

  3. Of sound, loud and sharp; shrill. The piercing noise of the children could be heard two blocks from the elementary school.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: sharp, cutting, penetrating, stabbing, penetrative, knifelike, high, high-pitched, shrill, incisive, cacophonous, keen, acute, perceptive, discriminating, cacophonic

Translations

Every language

noun hole for jewelry

Españolpirsin, piercing
日本語ピアスホール piasu hōru
中文刺穿 cìchuān, 穿洞 chuāndòng, 沖孔 /冲孔 chōngkǒng
Portuguêspiercing, pírcingue
Françaispiercing
DeutschPiercing
Italianoforo
Русскийпи́рсинг pírsing, прока́лывание prokályvanije

noun the jewelry itself

Españolpirsin, piercing
한국어피어싱 pieosing
日本語ピアス piasu
Portuguêspírcingue, piercing
Françaispiercing
Italianopiercing

adj appearing to look deeply into; penetrating

Españolpunzante
中文尖利 jiānlì
Deutschdurchdringend, stechend
Italianopungente, penetrante

adj of temperature - extremely cold

Deutschbeißend
Italianopenetrante

adj of sound - shrill

Deutschdurchdringend, schrill

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"piercing." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/piercing. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

piercing. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/piercing

Chicago

"piercing." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/piercing.

BibTeX
@misc{piercing_2026,
  title = {piercing},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/piercing},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}