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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.

His phoenixlike return was emblematic of the “Wild West” nature of the staffing world, said Pollie Pent, a former detective with the California Department of Insurance’s fraud division who now works in the insurance industry.

From New York Times • Nov. 17, 2024

Pent up demand for workers was underscored by Labor Department data this week showing there were 10.1 million job openings at the end of April, with 1.8 vacancies for every unemployed person.

From Reuters • Jun. 2, 2023

Pent up demand for infrastructure improvements might also keep the upturn going into 2019.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2018

Pent waters boiled through the gap, sweeping the Pelican with them.

From Time Magazine Archive

Pent up from trailing the field, Seabiscuit spun through the gap like a bullet rifling down a barrel.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

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.