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  • pent
    pent
    verb
    a simple past tense and past participle of pen.
  • Pent.
    Pent.
    abbreviation
    Pentecost.
Synonyms

pent

1 American  
[pent] / pɛnt /

verb

  1. a simple past tense and past participle of pen.

adjective

  1. shut in; confined.

pent 2 American  
[pent] / pɛnt /

noun

  1. penthouse.

Pent. 3 American  

abbreviation

  1. Pentecost.

pent British  
/ pɛnt /

verb

  1. a past tense and past participle of pen 2

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of pent1

First recorded in 1535–45; late Middle English pente, pent, past participle of obsolete pend, variant of pennen “to enclose, confine”; cf. pen 2

Origin of pent2

By shortening

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.

“There isn’t a lot of pent up inflationary pressure in the economy,” Macklem said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

Aswan remembers taking her driving theory test: "I got so pent up about passing it first time that when I failed by a couple of points I've never tried to get it back."

From BBC • Nov. 19, 2025

The result is a pent up demand that lures workers to come illegally.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 25, 2025

“Post-COVID, we got this big influx of revenge travel, where everyone’s so pent up indoors and they’re just like, ‘Get me out there,’ ” McElroy explains.

From Slate • Oct. 27, 2024

All these years it’s been pent up inside me.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

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.