perforate

Perforate is a verb meaning to make a hole or holes through something; to pierce through or through-and-through. It can also describe the act of creating a passage or having holes, as in a perforated material. The related noun perforation refers to the hole itself or the process of perforating. Perforate can be used in literal contexts (drilling, punching) or figurative ones (perforating a plan with gaps).

The word derives from Latin perforare, from per- meaning through and forare meaning to bore.

Common uses occur in several fields. In manufacturing and design, perforated materials such as metal sheets, plastics, or papers feature regularly spaced holes. Perforations are used for filtration, ventilation, acoustics, diffusion of light, and decorative effects, with hole size, spacing, and pattern determining performance. In packaging and print media, perforations enable easy tearing or separation, as seen on tickets, stamps, and roll-fed labels.

In biology and botany, perforations appear in vascular tissues; for example, perforation plates connect adjacent xylem vessel elements to allow fluid flow. In medicine, perforation denotes a hole that forms through the wall of a hollow organ (such as the gastrointestinal tract) or a ruptured tympanic membrane, often requiring medical attention. In the oil and gas industry, perforating guns create holes through casing and cement to establish communication between the wellbore and surrounding formations.

Overall, perforate describes both the action of making holes and the resulting state of having holes, with wide-ranging applications across industry, science, and medicine.