Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To pass (troops, for example) surreptitiously into enemy-held territory.
- intransitive verb To penetrate with hostile intent.
- intransitive verb To enter or take up positions in gradually or surreptitiously, as for purposes of espionage or takeover.
- intransitive verb To cause (a liquid, for example) to permeate a substance by passing through its interstices or pores.
- intransitive verb To permeate (a porous substance) with a liquid or gas.
- intransitive verb To gain entrance gradually or surreptitiously.
- noun One that infiltrates, especially an abnormal substance that accumulates gradually in cells or body tissues.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To pass by filtration; percolate through pores or interstices.
- To pass into or through the pores or interstices of; filter into or through.
- noun That which infiltrates; specifically, in pathology, the substance which passes into the tissues to form a morbid accumulation, as the fat of fatty infiltration.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To penetrate gradually; -- sometimes used reflexively.
- intransitive verb To enter by penetrating the pores or interstices of a substance; to filter into or through something.
- intransitive verb To enter secretly (into an organization, territory, etc.) for hostile purposes, such as spying or sabotage; ; also used transitively.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To surreptitiously
penetrate , enter or gain access. - verb To cause a fluid to pass through a substance by
filtration . - verb To send soldiers through gaps in the enemy line.
- verb intransitive To move from a
vein , remaining in the body.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb pass through an enemy line; in a military conflict
- verb enter a group or organization in order to spy on the members
- verb cause (a liquid) to enter by penetrating the interstices
- verb pass into or through by filtering or permeating
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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This first episode picks up where "Half-Life 2" ended: the towering alien fortress you and female friend Alyx managed to infiltrate is about to blow in a very big way.
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Don't want to reveal my plan but is the word infiltrate appropriate?
Latest Articles 2009
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The use of the word infiltrate to refer to a child reeks of small minded bigotry.
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"The use of the word infiltrate to refer to a child reeks of small minded bigotry."
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"The use of the word infiltrate to refer to a child reeks of small minded bigotry."
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Co-ed groups of military-age Israelis pretending to be students of a non-existent Tel Aviv "arts school" had earlier that year been caught attempting to visit - "infiltrate" - sensitive U.S. security sites, as authoritatively reported at the time by a number of corporate media outlets.
Signs of the Times 2008
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(E.g., the Ho Chi Minh Trail was originally created as a supply line and in order that propagandists, assassins and terrorists could infiltrate from the North into the South, coercing local, indigenous South Vietnamese populations into ideological compliance.) + More generally, Uncle Ho was not the simple nationalist as protrayed by the Western Left, he was a thoroughgoing ideologue and practitioner of Leninist/Stalinist styled totalitarian programs, from instilling a cult of personality to eliminating contenders for nationalist leadership via assassinations and intra-party purges.
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Cossiga, former Italian President, Prime Minister, Minister of the Interior, and one of the founders of the Operation GLADIO covert intelligence unit, encouraged Silvio Berlusconi and current Minister of the Interior Robert Maroni to "do what I did when I was Minister of the Interior," namely infiltrate what so far have been relatively peaceful demonstrations, radicalize them, start riots, then engender public support for a heavy-handed police response.
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Cossiga, former Italian President, Prime Minister, Minister of the Interior, and one of the founders of the Operation GLADIO covert intelligence unit, encouraged Silvio Berlusconi and current Minister of the Interior Robert Maroni to "do what I did when I was Minister of the Interior," namely infiltrate what so far have been relatively peaceful demonstrations, radicalize them, start riots, then engender public support for a heavy-handed police response. translated reads as follows.
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CBS also reported that "Marc Ambinder has a video of an AIP leader explaining that party members" Must 'infiltrate'-his words-the other two parties and push for the cause of Alaskan independence. "
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