puncture

From Late Latin punctūra.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpʌŋktʃə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpʌŋkt͡ʃɚ/

• Audio (US):

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• Hyphenation: punc‧ture

puncture (plural punctures)

1. The act or an instance of puncturing.
2. A hole, cut, or tear created by a sharp object.

   There were two small punctures in his arm where the snake's fangs had pierced the skin.

   • 1752 January 23 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. 190. Sunday, January 12. 1752.”, in The Rambler, volume VIII, Edinburgh: […] Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1752, →OCLC, page 44:

     The lion may perish by the puncture of an asp.

3. (specifically) A hole in a vehicle's tyre, causing the tyre to deflate.

   Synonyms: (US) flat tire, (US, informal) flat, (UK) flat tyre

   On the way back we got a puncture, and we were stuck at the roadside for three hours until help arrived.

   • 2001, Ken Follett, Jackdaws, Dutton, →ISBN, page 340:

     Dieter's car had suffered a puncture on the RN3 road between Paris and Meaux. A bent nail was stuck in the tire.

   • 2012 July 15, Richard Williams, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track‎^[1], Guardian Unlimited:

     A tough test for even the strongest climber, it was new to the Tour de France this year, but its debut will be remembered for the wrong reasons after one of those spectators scattered carpet tacks on the road and induced around 30 punctures among the group of riders including Bradley Wiggins, the Tour's overall leader, and his chief rivals.

puncture (third-person singular simple present punctures, present participle puncturing, simple past and past participle punctured)

1. To pierce; to break through; to tear a hole.

   The needle punctured the balloon instantly.

   • 2013, clipping. (lyrics and music), “story”, in midcity‎^[2]:

     The couple all bloody / Tongues punctured by each other's teeth / Died and didn't let go

2. To destroy the vitality or strength of.
   • 2024 October 23, Jacob Oller, “Clay weepy Memoir Of A Snail crawls through a gauntlet of misery”, in AV Club‎^[3]:

     The woebegone children have their aspirations slowly snuffed. Grace’s artistic dreams (of animation, of course) are punctured by her isolated existence; Gilbert’s pyrophilia is smothered by religious extremism.

• puncturer
• punctured interval
• punctured neighborhood

pūnctūre

1. vocative masculine singular of pūnctūrus