crayon
Americannoun
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a pointed stick or pencil of colored clay, chalk, wax, etc., used for drawing or coloring.
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a drawing in crayons.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a small stick or pencil of charcoal, wax, clay, or chalk mixed with coloured pigment
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a drawing made with crayons
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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crayonsimple
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crayonssimple
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have crayonedperfect
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has crayonedperfect
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am crayoningprogressive
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are crayoningprogressive
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is crayoningprogressive
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have been crayoningperfect progressive
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has been crayoningperfect progressive
Past
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crayonedsimple
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had crayonedperfect
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was crayoningprogressive
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were crayoningprogressive
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had been crayoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of crayon
1635–45; < French, equivalent to craie chalk (< Latin crēta clay, chalk) + -on noun suffix
Explanation
A crayon is a colorful stick of wax made for drawing and coloring. It’s also what you do with it. If a kid asks you to crayon with her, bring some paper and your imagination. Young artists often start with crayons, since they’re easy to deal with. Harold and the Purple Crayon is a book about a little boy who draws his own adventures with one purple crayon. But crayons come in hundreds of colors. While the history of drawing with colored wax dates back to ancient Egypt, the crayon we know today has been around — along with the word itself — since the 17th century. It comes from the French crayon, "pencil."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If you have ever used a "magic eraser" sponge to scrub away scuffs on white shoes or crayon marks on a wall, you have seen how powerful these cleaners can be.
From Science Daily • Apr. 18, 2026
A loose 1878 crayon and ink-wash study for an illustration for Émile Zola’s “L’Assommoir” becomes a firmer, more detailed pen, ink and chalk version, made even more solid in the final reproduction.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 20, 2025
“You are smart and kind,” she wrote in pencil, the handwriting surrounded by crayon hearts.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 24, 2025
The future Queen Elizabeth I was 12 years old at the time — long past the age in which a ghastly crayon drawing of dad would suffice.
From Salon • Dec. 23, 2024
At times he nearly stood up to reach for a new crayon.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
