pennant

American  

[pen-uhnt] / ˈpɛn ənt /

noun

• pennants
  plural

1. a long, tapering flag or burgee of distinctive form and special significance, borne on naval or other vessels and used in signaling or for identification.

2. any relatively long, tapering flag.

3. a flag serving as an emblem of victory or championship, especially in baseball.

4. Music. hook.

5. Nautical. pendant.

---

pennant British  

/ ˈpɛnənt /

noun

1. a type of pennon, esp one flown from vessels as identification or for signalling

2. 1. a flag serving as an emblem of championship in certain sports

   2. ( as modifier )

      pennant cricket

3. nautical another word for pendant

4. same as flag 1

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pennants
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of pennant

First recorded in 1605–15; blend of pennon and pendant

---

Explanation

A pennant is a long flag that tapers at one end. You might see a pennant flying on a navy ship, being waved in the crowd of spectators at a baseball game, or hanging on a sporty kid’s bedroom wall. Nautical pennants were the original triangular or tapered flags, and they are still flown on most active warships. Sporting pennants also have a long history, and were once commonly given as prizes or trophies and waved by fans in the stands at high school and college sporting events. Sports teams can still win a pennant, but pennants are often purchased as souvenirs at games and wind up on fans’ walls.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pennant pennants

As the Milwaukee Brewers celebrated their first pennant in 44 years on Thursday night after taking down baseball’s richest franchise, nobody on the Dinosaur Dodgers was laughing anymore.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

The chase for baseball’s best pitcher, the hunt by baseball’s best team, the pennant race, the World Series, all of it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

One way to resolve his mechanical flaw would have been for Sasaki to completely overhaul the mechanics he has been using his entire life in the middle of a pennant race.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

If you calculate the length of the flagpole to the bottom pennant, as some technicians do, the upside target would be about 7.4%.

From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026

And Jason at the helm of his own ship, a crow on its pennant.

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk

His Red Special presidential campaign train in 1908 and his Socialist Party conventions were riots of red flags, pennants and bunting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

There was also no exchange of pennants between Republic of Ireland captain Dara O'Shea and Israel skipper Manor Solomon, who did not shake hands.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

Many chart watchers believe pennants tend to appear around the middle of a trend.

From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026

The Dodgers have six pennants on display at Dodger Stadium, one for each of the six World Series championships in franchise history.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024

At a modest high school in the Tidewater city of Portsmouth, not far from John Casteen’s boyhood home, a guidance-office wall filled with college pennants does not include one from rarefied Virginia.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• streamer

---