perforation

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a hole or opening made by piercing through a material or part of the body

   The scan revealed a small perforation in the eardrum.

2. 2
   noun

   a row of small holes that allows paper or another material to be torn neatly

   Fold the ticket along the perforation before tearing it off.

3. 3
   noun

   the act or process of making a hole through something

   Laser perforation created hundreds of precise openings in the sheet.

From Late Latin perforatio, from perforare, "to bore through," formed from per-, "through," + forare, "to bore or pierce." The medical sense applies the same image to an abnormal hole through an organ wall or membrane.

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