ballpoint pen

American  

[bawl-point pen] / ˈbɔlˌpɔɪnt ˈpɛn /

noun

• ballpoint pens
  plural

1. a pen in which the point is a fine ball bearing that rotates against a supply of semisolid ink in a cartridge, thus rolling the ink onto paper.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ballpoint pens
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ballpoint pen

First recorded in 1945–50; ball ¹ + point

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ballpoint pen

Chow, a lawyer who is representing herself, smiled at supporters who waved enthusiastically from the public gallery as the hearing began, while Lee sat quietly in the dock taking notes with a ballpoint pen.

From Barron's ● May 18, 2026

He called her every day and kept a diary, sketching rap lyrics and poems in blue ballpoint pen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025

Dahl, who was born in the Cardiff suburb of Llandaff, produced the sketches in black ballpoint pen for the book Boy, which was published in 1984.

From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2025

They recorded its vitals — a plump and healthy Townsend’s warbler weighing 8.4 grams, about as much as a ballpoint pen — and gently clamped an identification band on one of its legs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2023

My hand crept instinctively toward my pocket, where I kept my lethal ballpoint pen, Riptide.

From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan