crayon
Americannoun
-
crayons
plural
-
a pointed stick or pencil of colored clay, chalk, wax, etc., used for drawing or coloring.
-
a drawing in crayons.
verb (used with object)
-
crayons,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crayoned,
past participle, past
-
crayoning
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
crayons,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crayoned,
past participle, past
-
crayoning
present participle
noun
-
a small stick or pencil of charcoal, wax, clay, or chalk mixed with coloured pigment
-
a drawing made with crayons
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
crayonsimple
-
crayonssimple
-
have crayonedperfect
-
has crayonedperfect
-
am crayoningprogressive
-
are crayoningprogressive
-
is crayoningprogressive
-
have been crayoningperfect progressive
-
has been crayoningperfect progressive
Past
-
crayonedsimple
-
had crayonedperfect
-
was crayoningprogressive
-
were crayoningprogressive
-
had been crayoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of crayon
1635–45; < French, equivalent to craie chalk (< Latin crēta clay, chalk) + -on noun suffix
Explanation
A crayon is a colorful stick of wax made for drawing and coloring. It’s also what you do with it. If a kid asks you to crayon with her, bring some paper and your imagination. Young artists often start with crayons, since they’re easy to deal with. Harold and the Purple Crayon is a book about a little boy who draws his own adventures with one purple crayon. But crayons come in hundreds of colors. While the history of drawing with colored wax dates back to ancient Egypt, the crayon we know today has been around — along with the word itself — since the 17th century. It comes from the French crayon, "pencil."
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.
See Examples For:
Those marginalia are little workmanships, like the earlier ones of crayon and wool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
If you have ever used a "magic eraser" sponge to scrub away scuffs on white shoes or crayon marks on a wall, you have seen how powerful these cleaners can be.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 18, 2026
“You are smart and kind,” she wrote in pencil, the handwriting surrounded by crayon hearts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
It’s so obvious, it’s practically unconscious — like being told to crayon a great painting and selecting the “Mona Lisa.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2025
The wall behind it was decorated with Leo’s crayon drawings.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Similarly, many school supplies are produced overseas, like pencils and crayons, which are predominantly imported from Brazil, China, Mexico and India.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
Even as a child colouring with the crayons she loved, she seemed to be doing the wrong thing.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
In other rooms, colleagues arranged pencil sharpeners, water bottles and crayons in patterns, recording with depth-sensor cameras.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
A big electronic billboard in downtown Midland shows current market rates for oil and gas and the local oil-rig count, along with motivational slogans like “broken crayons still color.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026
George had been Owen’s best friend since they shared crayons with each other on the first day of kindergarten.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Many families hung banners with crayoned, or painted, rainbows, with a hashtag mantra: “Tutto andra’ bene,” or everything will turn out OK.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 15, 2020
Taped to another wall are coloring book tear-outs of Odums’ drawings, crayoned in by young children who come here for art instruction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2020
In the 50th minute, as the crayoned cheeks began to run, Swiss forward Steven Zuber snapped a header to level the game at 1.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 21, 2018
A brightly crayoned Pollock's toy theatre pops up in its place, its flat proscenium arch festooned with pictures of the Cheshire Cat and Captain Hook.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 31, 2013
On the glass that covered it, some mysterious unknown person had crayoned a mustache right above my toothless grin.
From "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli
Lately, those maps have come to resemble abstract art, or just crayoning gone wild.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
Kraemer seemed to pause only once, when he beamed at an embassy employee crayoning the red-and-white flag onto cheeks all shapes and colors.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 21, 2018
Their bags were stuffed with nappies and milk for Riad, who is busily crayoning and crawling under the table while they talk.
From The Guardian ● May 25, 2016
After crayoning the wax onto your board you clip the paper to the iron so it's between the iron plate and your base.
From Time Magazine Archive
Because, with Maniac around, Hester and Lester lost their interest in crayoning everything in sight.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
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