pen pal

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noun

a person with whom one keeps up an exchange of letters, usually someone so far away that a personal meeting is unlikely: My niece in Texas has a pen pal in France.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of pen pal

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pen pal in a sentence

And back in February, he lost a close pal in Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Coffee Talk with Ethan Hawke: On ‘Boyhood,’ Jennifer Lawrence, and Bill Clinton’s Urinal Exchange|Marlow Stern|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Grant's pal Howard Hughes offered to fly them back to Los Angeles in his private plane.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Storey said Wright often returned applications “dripping in red pen.”
Two Texas Regulators Tried to Enforce the Rules. They Were Fired.|David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One industry executive complained that Wright returned unapproved applications “dripping in red pen.”
Two Texas Regulators Tried to Enforce the Rules. They Were Fired.|David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST

So, I had a pen and a pencil and started scribbling and drawing, and I felt good about it.
The Renegade: Robert Downey Sr. on His Classic Films, Son’s Battle with Drugs, and Bill Cosby|Marlow Stern|November 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Squinty, several times, looked at the hole under the pen, by which he had once gotten out.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum
Several times after this the boy and his sisters came to look down into the pig pen.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum
She also practises etching, pen-and-ink drawing, as well as crayon and water-color sketching.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
And right after that, some nice sour milk would come splashing down into the trough of the pen.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum
Then the boy lifted out the comical little pig, and Squinty found himself inside a large box, very much like the pen at home.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum

British Dictionary definitions for pen pal

pen pal

noun

a person with whom one regularly exchanges letters, often a person in another country whom one has not metAlso called: pen friend

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

pen pal

Origin of pen pal

Words related to pen pal

How to use pen pal in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pen pal