: a piece of jewelry (such as a ring or stud) that is attached to pierced flesh
Examples of piercing in a Sentence
Adjective
She looked at me with piercing eyes, and I was suddenly frightened that she knew what I had done.
I tried to avoid his piercing stare.
She felt a piercing sadness when she heard the news.
Noun
There's a small shop in town where they do tattooing and body piercing.
She got another ear piercing.
Recent Examples on the Web
Rolling Stone, 29 Dec. 2025
Streisand covered the emotionally piercing song the following year, and clever DJs around the country began splicing the two solo versions together.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 24 Dec. 2025
Becky Sullivan, NPR, 9 Feb. 2026
The piercing doesn't necessarily damage the trees, but their excrement, which is high in sugar, stains the trees and blocks photosynthesis, which eventually suffocates the trees, the researchers said.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for piercing
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.
Adjective
Tyler, the Creator’s Don’t Tap the Glass, ironically, is the least piercing and the most hedonistic, by design.
—Rolling Stone, 29 Dec. 2025
Streisand covered the emotionally piercing song the following year, and clever DJs around the country began splicing the two solo versions together.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 24 Dec. 2025
Noun
Recovery from the wound, which entailed a complete piercing of her abdominal wall, took months.
—Becky Sullivan, NPR, 9 Feb. 2026
The piercing doesn't necessarily damage the trees, but their excrement, which is high in sugar, stains the trees and blocks photosynthesis, which eventually suffocates the trees, the researchers said.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for piercing
Cite this Entry
“Piercing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piercing. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
