Meaning

• To enter into; to make way into the interior of; to pierce.

  "Light penetrates darkness."

• To achieve understanding of, despite some obstacle; to comprehend; to understand.

  "I could not penetrate Burke's opaque rhetoric."

• To affect profoundly through the senses or feelings; to move deeply.

  "to penetrate one's heart with pity"

• To infiltrate an enemy to gather intelligence.

• To insert the penis into an opening, such as a vagina or anus.

  "a male elephant comes up and penetrates the female elephant"

• To move a piece past the defending pieces of one's opponent.

Meaning

• Able to pierce or penetrate

  "The skunk produces a penetrating odor."

• Demonstrating acute or keen understanding

  "His novel shows a penetrating insight into the criminal mind."