puncture

From Late Latin punctūra.

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

• 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.

   • Rambler

     A lion may perish by the puncture of an asp.

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

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

   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 in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track

     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.

• puncturer

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.

• acupuncture
• aquapuncture
• colorpuncture
• electropuncture
• laserpuncture
• punctured interval
• punctured neighborhood

punctūre

1. vocative masculine singular of punctūrus