punctured

verb

past tense of puncture
1
as in pierced
to make a hole or series of holes in a nail punctured the tire

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stabbed
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object I could never puncture my own skin with a hypodermic needle

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of punctured People didn’t buy the Old Hollywood Grande of the early 2020s; her headlines punctured the wholesome façade. — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 Aug. 2026 Images of Russian delivery warehouses and refineries ablaze have punctured the veneer of safety Moscow has tried to maintain four years into the war. — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 31 July 2026 Then Uber came along and punctured the entire system within a few years. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 31 July 2026 The heckle briefly punctured the idyll at CicLAvia, the long-running open-streets bike that brings thousands of cyclists to different LA neighborhoods multiple times each year. — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 29 July 2026 Three people were arrested Saturday after Antioch police officers found them with guns and nearly two dozen ounces of marijuana outside a car punctured with bullet holes, police said. — Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 20 July 2026 Explosions rock Damascus Damascus’ tense post-revolution serenity was punctured on July 2 by the bombing of a café near the Justice Ministry that killed nine people and wounded dozens. — Taylor Luck, Christian Science Monitor, 15 July 2026 Agents test the packages, but the sheriff’s office said the one found Wednesday was punctured and tainted by saltwater. — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 8 July 2026 But even in the midst of those surges, the visible dissent of people such as Renee Good and Alex Pretti punctured that fantasy. — Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for punctured
  1. pierced
  2. stabbed
  3. drilled
  4. jabbed
  5. punched
  6. picked
  7. poked
  8. stuck
Verb
  • More than 180 bullets pierced, cracked or shattered windows in six buildings on campus.
    — Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Eight thick stone legs support a circular tower pierced by arched openings.
    — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of pierced
Verb
  • There was the guy Daemon stabbed through the ear, and then the smelly killers Gwayne sniffed out, and now Ser Adrian, who took a knife to the throat within seconds of seeing Aemond.
    — Brian Grubb, Vulture, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Prosecutors argued the evidence supported a murder conviction, with Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bell telling jurors Ramsey stabbed Holder 38 times and the infant 17 times inside their Ewa Beach apartment, according to the Star-Advertiser.
    — Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of stabbed
Verb
  • The 29-year-old bopper has drilled 26 home runs against right-handed pitching, 19 at home and 15 at home against righties in 2026.
    — Josh Shepardson, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2026
  • The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, which monitors and approves wells across the state, said staff have counted eight wells drilled without the office’s permission along the southern border, but cautioned there could be more.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of drilled
Verb
  • Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu jabbed back against the prevailing narrative yesterday, saying she was never invited to participate in the WNBA’s 3-point contest this weekend.
    — Chris Branch, New York Times, 24 July 2026
  • Two of the points on the rear treble hook were jabbed deeply into the flesh on the outside of the pike’s mouth.
    — Jack G. Mell, Outdoor Life, 2 July 2026
Definition of jabbed
Verb
  • As the train doors were about to close, the pair exited the train, facing off against each other, and the assailant punched the victim in the face.
    — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • During the fight, Collins told detectives, his cousin punched his sister and threatened to kill them.
    — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of punched
Verb
  • Later that day, her most devout followers rented a fleet of RVs, picked Didulo up from her apartment, and began driving across the country.
    — Zander Sherman, Rolling Stone, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The group quickly grew at home and received attention from beyond — in its first year running, Futsi was picked to host the International Street Football Association’s Northern California regional qualifier for its inaugural World Cup tournament.
    — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of picked
Verb
  • Offering a clever twist, the warm cake is poked with the handle of a wooden spoon, creating space for a vanilla-pineapple pudding to sink deep into the crumb.
    — Erin Merhar, Southern Living, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Let sit at room temperature until buns are puffed and expanded to edges of muffin cups (dough will spring back when poked but hold a slight indentation), 25–35 minutes.
    — Claire Saffitz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of poked
Verb
  • These new provisions have been met with skepticism from human rights groups, including fears that deportation centers hosted abroad could morph into long-term holding facilities overflowing with asylum seekers stuck in legal limbo.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Bad cops are not being fired, and good cops who may be wrongfully accused are stuck in professional purgatory.
    — Sam Charles, Chicago Tribune, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of stuck

Browse Nearby Words

puncture
punctured
punctures
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Punctured.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/punctured. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on punctured

Nglish: Translation of punctured for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All