different between puncture vs interstice

English

Etymology

From Late Latin punct?ra.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p??kt??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?p??kt??/
• Hyphenation: punc?ture

Noun

puncture (plural punctures)

1. The act or an instance of puncturing.
2. A hole, cut, or tear created by a sharp object.
   • January 12, 1752, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler

     The lion may perish by the puncture of an asp.

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

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

   • 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.

Derived terms

• puncturer

Translations

Verb

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.

Derived terms

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

Translations

Latin

Participle

p?nct?re

1. vocative masculine singular of p?nct?rus

English

Etymology

Old French interstice, from Latin interstitium.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n?t??.st?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?n?t?.st?s/

Noun

interstice (plural interstices)

1. A small opening or space between objects, especially adjacent objects or objects set closely together, as between cords in a rope or components of a multiconductor electrical cable or between atoms in a crystal.
2. (figuratively) A fragment of space.
3. An interval of time required by the Roman Catholic Church between the attainment of different degrees of an order.
4. (by extension) A small interval of time free to be spent on activities other than one's primary goal.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:interstice.

Synonyms

• (small opening or space between objects): chink, crack, cranny, crevice, fissure, gap, slit; see also Thesaurus:interspace or Thesaurus:hole

Derived terms

• interstitial

Translations

Further reading

• interstice in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• interstice in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.t??.stis/

Noun

interstice m (plural interstices)

1. (religion) interstice
2. gap, interval

Derived terms

• interstitiel

Further reading

• “interstice” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).