percolating

Meanings

1. 1verbintransitive

   Passing slowly down or through a material full of tiny holes, such as soil, coffee grounds or rock.

   Grammar: No object; usually followed by through or down: water percolating through sand.

   Patterns

   • percolate through something
   • percolate down
   • percolate into something

   Rainwater was percolating through the layers of rock and slowly refilling the underground spring.

   You can hear the coffee percolating on the stove while you get dressed.

   The melted snow kept percolating down into the soil all afternoon.

2. 2verbintransitivefigurative

   Spreading gradually through a group or situation, or quietly developing in someone's mind before becoming clear.

   Grammar: No object; often used with through, into or up: an idea percolating up.

   Patterns

   • percolate through something
   • percolate up
   • percolate into something

   The rumor had been percolating through the office for weeks before anyone mentioned it openly.

   She let the plot idea keep percolating while she worked on other chapters.

   New habits percolate down from the managers to the rest of the team.

3. 3verbintransitive

   Making coffee by letting hot water pass repeatedly through the grounds in a pot, so that the liquid is brewing.

   Grammar: Describes the pot or the coffee, with no object: the pot is percolating.

   Patterns

   • percolate away

   The old pot sat percolating on the camp stove, filling the tent with the smell of coffee.

   Dad likes the sound of the coffee percolating first thing in the morning.

Word forms

Common combinations

percolate through the soil

The pollution was percolating through the soil toward the well.

percolate down

Changes at the top slowly percolate down to the shop floor.

ideas percolate

Ideas percolate best when I take a long walk.

percolating coffee

The smell of percolating coffee drifted into the hallway.

percolate up

The truth finally percolated up from the junior staff.

Synonyms and how they differ

seep

Seep stresses a slow leak of liquid through small gaps, and it is less often used for ideas.

filter

Filter suggests something passes through while part of it is held back, whereas percolating only stresses the slow movement.

brew

Brew is used for a plan or a storm that is about to develop, with a sense of trouble that percolating does not carry.

permeate

Permeate means to spread throughout and fill something completely, while percolating is about the slow journey.

Opposites

Word family

percolate verb

to pass slowly through something porous

percolation noun

the slow passing of liquid through a material

percolator noun

a pot that makes coffee by passing hot water through grounds

percolate noun

the liquid that has passed through a filtering material

Commonly confused: percolating or perforating?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “percolating”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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