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ble of being penetrated, entered, or pierced. Used also figuratively. And pierce his only penetrable part. Dryden. I am not made of stones, But penetrable to your kind entreats. Shak. -- Pen"e*tra*ble*ness, n. -- Pen"e*tra*bly, adv.

erced; not admitting the passage of other bodies; not to be entered; impervious; as, an impenetrable shield. Highest woods impenetrable To star or sunlight. Milton.

The quality of being impenetrable; impenetrability.

Impenetrable.

A stone imagined by some to be of impenetrable hardness; a name given to the diamond and other substance of extreme hardness; but in modern minerology it has no technical signification. It is now a rhetorical or poetical name for the embodiment of impenetrable hardness. Opposed the rocky orb Of tenfold adamant, his amp…

r clock, which drives the hand but permits it to be moved in setting. -- Cannon proof, impenetrable by cannon balls. -- Cannon shot. (a) A cannon ball. (b) The range of a cannon.

A California rosaceous shrub (Adenostoma fasciculatum) which often forms an impenetrable chaparral.

An almost impenetrable thicket or succession of thickets of thorny shrubs and brambles. Chaparral cock; fem. Chaparral hen (Zoöl.), a bird of the cuckoo family (Geococcyx Californianus), noted for running with great speed. It ranges from California to Mexico and eastward to Texas; -- called also road runner, ground cuc…

The dough, or mass of doughy paste, cooked with a potpie; -- also called dumpling. Th' impenetrable crust thy teeth defies. Dryden. He that keeps nor crust nor crumb. Shak. They . . . made the crust for the venison pasty. Macualay.

, as with pales or stakes; to surround. Impale him with your weapons round about. Shak. Impenetrable, impaled with circling fire. Milton.

Quality of being impenetrable.

In an impenetrable manner or state; imperviously. "Impenetrably armed." Milton. "Impenetrably dull." Pope.

ot permeable; not permitting passage, as of a fluid. through its substance; impervious; impenetrable; as, India rubber is impermeable to water and to air. -- Im*per"me*a*ble*ness, n. -- Im*per"me*a*bly, adv.

Not capable of being pierced; impenetrable. [Obs.] Spenser.

A dense growth of brushwood, grasses, reeds, vines, etc.; an almost impenetrable thicket of trees, canes, and reedy vegetation, as in India, Africa, Australia, and Brazil. The jungles of India are of bamboos, canes, and other palms, very difficult to penetrate. Balfour (Cyc. of India). Jungle bear (Zoöl.), the aswail o…

Having no beaten path or way; untrodden; impenetrable; as, pathless woods. Trough the heavens' wide, pathless way. Milton.

The quality of being penetrable; susceptibility of being penetrated, entered, or pierced. Cheyne.

Capable of being permeated, or passed through; yielding passage; passable; penetrable; -- used especially of substances which allow the passage of fluids; as, wood is permeable to oil; glass is permeable to light. I. Taylor.

To thrust into water, or into any substance that is penetrable; to immerse; to cause to penetrate or enter quickly and forcibly; to thrust; as, to plunge the body into water; to plunge a dagger into the breast. Also used figuratively; as, to plunge a nation into war. "To plunge the boy in pleasing sleep." Dryden. Bound…

Armor of excellent or tried quality, and deemed impenetrable; properly, armor of proof. [Obs.] Shak. Artist's proof, a very early proof impression of an engraving, or the like; -- often distinguished by the artist's signature. -- Proof reader, one who reads, and marks correction in, proofs. See def. 5, above.…