percolate
verb
Norman Douglas
Did you know?
Percolate comes from a Latin verb meaning "to put through a sieve". Something that percolates filters through something else, just as small particles pass through a sieve. Water is drawn downward through the soil, and this percolation usually cleans the water. A slow rain is ideal for percolating into the soil, since in a violent rainstorm most of it quickly runs off. For this reason, drip irrigation is the most effective and water-conserving form of irrigation. Percolation isn't always a physical process; awareness of an issue may percolate slowly into the minds of the public, just as Spanish words may gradually percolate into English, often starting in the Southwest.
Examples of percolate in a Sentence
Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024
When news began percolating Friday that Biden was hinting at more student debt relief this week, critics were quick to pounce.
—Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024
The United Kingdom provides an important example, where low levels of cases percolated for most of 2023, then exploded in November.
—Mark Kortepeter, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
But any scenes pairing Mendes with Olin and Tomei, both captivating performers in their respective roles, truly light a fire under the proceedings, making the dialogue crackle and the connective conflicts percolate.
—Courtney Howard, Variety, 7 Feb. 2024
There’s an undertow of potential violence to the drama, percolating in its dark, propulsive score by Toke Brorson Odin (Winter Brothers), its suspenseful sound design by Margot Testemale and Jacques Pedersen, and the unrushed precision of Per K. Kirkegaard’s editing.
—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024
But Johnson is among the returners, along with Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, as well as depth that's percolated through the system for years, and incoming transfers.
—Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press, 9 Jan. 2024
And while that has happened, many residual legal challenges over the procedure continue to percolate in federal courts.
—John Fritze, USA TODAY, 6 Jan. 2024
In each case, the leader set out to create a business that was more than themselves, where quality thinking could happen anywhere, and percolate through the ranks.
—Jennifer Sundberg, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'percolate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near percolate
Cite this Entry
“Percolate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/percolate. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
percolate
verb
Medical Definition
percolate
1 of 2 verb
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