interpenetrate

verb

in·​ter·​pen·​e·​trate ˌin-tər-ˈpe-nə-ˌtrāt 

interpenetrated; interpenetrating; interpenetrates

intransitive verb

: to penetrate mutually

transitive verb

: to penetrate between, within, or throughout : permeate

interpenetration

ˌin-tər-ˌpe-nə-ˈtrā-shən 

noun

Synonyms

• percolate (into)
• permeate
• pervade
• riddle
• suffuse
• transfuse

Examples of interpenetrate in a Sentence

with tie-dyeing, the dye does not interpenetrate the entire fabric

Recent Examples on the Web

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

Spaces and forms interpenetrated. Sculptural concrete projections that housed the chambers and the mayor’s office protruded from a modular facade of offices. —Joseph Giovannini, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2020

In very recent work, Nikolay Prokof'ev and Boris Svistunov have proposed extremely clean examples involving two interpenetrating superfluids. —Frank Wilczek, Scientific American, 16 Oct. 2019

Two of the figures embrace, and their bodies interpenetrate to form a new anthropomorphic — no, feminamorphic — tree. —Sharon Mizota, latimes.com, 7 July 2018

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1810, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for interpenetrate

• borosilicate
• decontaminate
• deoxycholate
• deteriorate
• differentiate
• diisocyanate
• dinoflagellate
• excommunicate
• incapacitate
• insubordinate
• intercorporate
• isocyanate

Kids Definition

interpenetrate

verb

in·​ter·​pen·​e·​trate ˌint-ər-ˈpen-ə-ˌtrāt 

1

: to penetrate between, within, or throughout

2

: to penetrate mutually

interpenetration

-ˌpen-ə-ˈtrā-shən 

noun