percolate

Universal Words verb 1 [V] (of a liquid, gas, etc.) to move gradually through a surface that has very small holes or spaces in it: Water had percolated down through the rocks. * Nitrates may take 20 years to percolate through to the underground streams. 2 [V] to gradually become known or spread through a group or society: It had percolated through to us that something interesting was about to happen. * Changes percolate through gradually. 3 [VN, V] to make coffee in a percolator; to be made in this way