pencil

[pen-suhl]

noun

1. a slender tube of wood, metal, plastic, etc., containing a core or strip of graphite, a solid coloring material, or the like, used for writing or drawing.

2. a stick of cosmetic coloring material for use on the eyebrows, eyelids, etc.

3. anything shaped or used like a pencil, as a stick of medicated material.

   a styptic pencil.

4. a narrow set of lines, light rays, or the like, diverging from or converging to a point.

   a pencil of sunlight.

5. a slender, pointed piece of a substance used for marking.

6. style or skill in drawing or delineation.

   He favored the late products of the artist's pencil.

7. Mathematics.,  the collection of lines, planes, or surfaces passing through a given point or set of points and satisfying a given equation or condition.

8. Archaic.,  an artist's paintbrush, especially for fine work.

verb (used with object)

penciled, penciling , pencilled, pencilling .

1. to write, draw, mark, or color with, or as if with, a pencil.

2. to use a pencil on.

verb phrase

1. pencil in,  to schedule or list tentatively, as or as if by writing down in pencil rather than in ink.

   I'll pencil you in for ten o'clock.

pencil

/ ˈpɛnsəl /

noun

1. 1. a thin cylindrical instrument used for writing, drawing, etc, consisting of a rod of graphite or other marking substance, usually either encased in wood and sharpened or held in a mechanical metal device

   2. ( as modifier )

      a pencil drawing

2. something similar in shape or function

   a styptic pencil

   an eyebrow pencil

3. a narrow set of lines or rays, such as light rays, diverging from or converging to a point

4. archaic,  an artist's fine paintbrush

5. rare,  an artist's individual style or technique in drawing

verb

1. to draw, colour, or write with a pencil

2. to mark with a pencil

3. to note, arrange, include, etc provisionally or tentatively

Other Word Forms

• penciler noun
• pencillike adjective
• unpenciled adjective
• unpencilled adjective
• penciller noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pencil¹

1350–1400; Middle English pencel < Middle French pincel ≪ Latin pēnicillus painter's brush or pencil, diminutive of pēniculus little tail. See penis, -cule ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of pencil¹

C14: from Old French pincel, from Latin pēnicillus painter's brush, from pēniculus a little tail, from pēnis tail

Idioms and Phrases

see put lead in one's pencil.

Example Sentences

This isn’t what many investors had penciled in.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

But a substantial minority of seven officials penciled in no further reductions this year, highlighting a thorny consensus-building exercise facing Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

I think if they were teaching today, the nuns would tell everyone in class to get out their pencils and notebooks and write a letter to the president.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

For the next two hours, Stringer roved the room, pausing to sharpen pencils or praise participants’ designs.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Gestural markings of pencil and watercolor emphasize the artist’s hand, which underscores the human, unnatural fabrication of the casta system’s racial categorizations.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• address 
• compose 
• create 
• draft 
• note 
• pen 
• print 
• record 
• rewrite 
• scrawl 
• scribble 
• sign 
• tell