penetration

(pĕn'ĭ-trā'shən)
n.

1. The act or process of piercing or penetrating something, especially:
   1. The act of entering a country or organization so as to establish influence or gain information.
   2. An attack that penetrates enemy territory or a military front.
   3. Insertion of the penis into the vagina or anus.
2. The power or ability to penetrate.
3. The depth reached by a projectile after hitting its target.
4. 1. The degree to which a commodity, for example, is sold or recognized in a particular market.
   2. The extent of influence that one culture or nation has on another.
5. The capacity or action of understanding; insight.

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Measure of the degree to which a product or promotion has reached the individuals in a geographic area or market. For example, an ethnic food product such as taco sauce would have a high penetration in Texas or New Mexico and a low penetration in New England. However, if it is a popular brand of taco sauce it could have a high penetration in the taco sauce market (consumers of Mexican food) within New England. Similarly, a Yiddish radio program would have a higher penetration in New York City than in upper New York State. The ultimate high-penetration advertising campaign is the one employed by Coca-Cola, which reaches a great number of people in virtually every region of the world. See also market penetration.

noun

1. Skill in perceiving, discriminating, or judging: acumen, astuteness, clear-sightedness, discernment, discrimination, eye, keenness, nose, perceptiveness, percipience, percipiency, perspicacity, sagacity, sageness, shrewdness, wit. See ability/inability, careful/careless.
2. The power to discern the true nature of a person or situation: insight, instinct, intuition, intuitiveness, sixth sense. See thoughts.

n

Definition: insight
Antonyms: dullness

n. 1. in intelligence, the recruitment of agents within, or the infiltration of agents or technical monitoring devices in, an organization or group for the purpose of acquiring information or of influencing its activities.

2. in land operations, a form of offensive that seeks to break through the enemy's defense and disrupt the defensive system.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

1. The intersection of two vaulting surfaces.
2. The consistency of a bituminous material expressed as the distance (in hundredths of a centimeter) that a standard needle vertically penetrates a sample of the material under known conditions of loading, time, and temperature. Unless otherwise specified, the load, time, and temperature are understood to be 100 g, 5 sec, and 25°C (77°F), respectively.

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(DOD, NATO) In land operations, a form of offensive which seeks to break through the enemy's defense and disrupt the defensive system.

i. That portion of a published high-altitude instrument approach procedure that prescribes a descent path from the fix on which the procedure is based to a fix or an altitude from which an approach to the airport is made.



ii. A flight into hostile airspace as in to penetrate enemy air defense. Also, the depth to which something penetrates, as in “When the Allied bombers increased their penetration into Germany.”
iii. The term also refers to weather penetration, which implies a flight deep into a cloud with vertical development or into the eye of a tropical revolving storm, as in “the aircraft penetrated the cumulonimbus clouds and came out unscathed.”

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(pen′ə-trā′shən)
n

The ability of radiation to extend down into and go through substances. The degree of penetration is determined by the kilovoltage.

For a list of words related to penetration, see:

• Types and Techniques of Warfare - penetration: aggressive advance into enemy territory
• Basketball
• Sex Acts - penetration: entry of male into female

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