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pencil

[ pen-suhl ]
/ ˈpɛn səl /
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See synonyms for: pencil / penciled / penciling / pencilled on Thesaurus.com

noun
verb (used with object), pen·ciled, pen·cil·ing or (especially British) pen·cilled, pen·cil·ling.
to write, draw, mark, or color with, or as if with, a pencil.
to use a pencil on.
Verb Phrases
pencil in, to schedule or list tentatively, as or as if by writing down in pencil rather than in ink: I'll pencil you in for ten o'clock.
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Origin of pencil

1350–1400; Middle English pencel<Middle French pincel ≪ Latin pēnicillus painter's brush or pencil, diminutive of pēniculus little tail. See penis, -cule1

OTHER WORDS FROM pencil

pen·cil·er; especially British, pen·cil·ler, nounpen·cil·like, adjectiveun·pen·ciled, adjectiveun·pen·cilled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use pencil in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pencil

pencil
/ (ˈpɛnsəl) /

noun
verb -cils, -cilling or -cilled or US -cils, -ciling or -ciled (tr)

Derived forms of pencil

penciller or US penciler, noun

Word Origin for pencil

C14: from Old French pincel, from Latin pēnicillus painter's brush, from pēniculus a little tail, from pēnis tail
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

Other Idioms and Phrases with pencil

pencil

see put lead in one's pencil.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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