dictionary definitions for "impenetrable"


From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:

  impenetrable
      adj 1: not admitting of penetration or passage into or through; "an
             impenetrable fortress"; "impenetrable rain forests"
             [ant: penetrable]
      2: permitting little if any light to pass through because of
         denseness of matter; "dense smoke"; "heavy fog";
         "impenetrable gloom" [syn: dense, heavy]
      3: impossible to understand; "impenetrable jargon"

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impenetrable \Im*pen"e*tra*ble\, a. [L. impenetrabilis; pref.
     im- not + penetrabilis penetrable: cf. F.
     imp['e]n['e]trable.]
     1. Incapable of being penetrated or pierced; not admitting
        the passage of other bodies; not to be entered;
        impervious; as, an impenetrable shield.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Highest woods impenetrable
              To star or sunlight.                  --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Physics) Having the property of preventing any other
        substance from occupying the same space at the same time.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Inaccessible, as to knowledge, reason, sympathy, etc.;
        unimpressible; not to be moved by arguments or motives;
        as, an impenetrable mind, or heart.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              They will be credulous in all affairs of life, but
              impenetrable by a sermon of the gospel. --Jer.
                                                    Taylor.
        [1913 Webster]


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