pencil

[ pen-suhl ]

/ ˈpɛn səl /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: pencil / penciled / penciling / pencilled on Thesaurus.com

noun

a slender tube of wood, metal, plastic, etc., containing a core or strip of graphite, a solid coloring material, or the like, used for writing or drawing.

a stick of cosmetic coloring material for use on the eyebrows, eyelids, etc.

anything shaped or used like a pencil, as a stick of medicated material: a styptic pencil.

a narrow set of lines, light rays, or the like, diverging from or converging to a point: a pencil of sunlight.

a slender, pointed piece of a substance used for marking.

style or skill in drawing or delineation: He favored the late products of the artist's pencil.

Mathematics. the collection of lines, planes, or surfaces passing through a given point or set of points and satisfying a given equation or condition.

Archaic. an artist's paintbrush, especially for fine work.

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.

QUIZ

CUDDLE UP! A COZY QUIZ ON FALL WORDS HAS ARRIVED

If autumn is your ideal season, spice up your repertoire of "fall" vocabulary with this quiz on some warm and vivid descriptive words for the season.

Question 1 of 10

Which of the following words means “to make a crackling sound; crackle”?

crisp

crepitate

fuscous

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

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

Words nearby pencil

pence, pencel, penchant, penché, Penchi, pencil, pencil beam, pencil box, pencil cedar, pencil crayon, pencil gate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use pencil in a sentence

Or, if you hate sharpening, you can consider opting for mechanical pencils.
Excellent pencils for school, work, and beyond|PopSci Commerce Team|September 16, 2020|Popular-Science
To make sure that their germs stay with them, students shouldn’t share art supplies, pencils or paper, Kaushal says.
Here’s how COVID-19 is changing classes this year|Bethany Brookshire|September 8, 2020|Science News For Students
Perron worked out the first six dimensions with pencil and paper, but by the 1990s, researchers had learned how to translate Keller’s conjecture into a completely different form — one that allowed them to apply computers to the problem.
Computer Search Settles 90-Year-Old Math Problem|Kevin Hartnett|August 19, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Smooth, continuous curves are the ones you’d likely draw if you sat down with pencil and paper.
New Geometric Perspective Cracks Old Problem About Rectangles|Kevin Hartnett|June 25, 2020|Quanta Magazine

There’s a famous story about the fact that no one person knows how to make a pencil.
What Happens When Everyone Stays Home to Eat? (Ep. 412)|Stephen J. Dubner|April 9, 2020|Freakonomics
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
And then one pencil drawing of my face, and one pencil drawing of the Genie from Aladdin.
How Aidy Bryant Stealthily Became Your Favorite ‘Saturday Night Live’ Star|Kevin Fallon|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then he tagged me in one of his posts, and it was a horrific pencil drawing of my face.
How Aidy Bryant Stealthily Became Your Favorite ‘Saturday Night Live’ Star|Kevin Fallon|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If you saw it in front of you, your pencil would drop, your tablet would fall from your lap.
How Mork Melted the Fonz: Henry Winkler Recalls Robin Williams’s Storming ‘Happy Days’ Debut|Tim Teeman|August 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Collectively, they span almost every technique and medium—from color pencil and markers to oil sticks and watercolor.
O.J., Martha, Jagger, and Manson: Capturing Celebrities in the Dock|Justin Jones|May 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A little boy aged two years and four months was deprived of a pencil from Thursday to Sunday for scribbling on the wall-paper.
Children's Ways|James Sully
And sure enough when Sunday came, and the pencil was restored to him, he promptly showed nurse his picture.
Children's Ways|James Sully
We are so many around here that you'll have to get paper and pencil and mark us down to keep track of how many.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
He had written his name with pencil upon a leaf which he tore from his pocket-book, and sent it to the Marchioness.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
During my schooldays I spent many happy hours alone with book or pen or pencil.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow

British Dictionary definitions for pencil

pencil

/ (ˈpɛnsəl) /

noun

a thin cylindrical instrument used for writing, drawing, etc, consisting of a rod of graphite or other marking substance, usually either encased in wood and sharpened or held in a mechanical metal device
(as modifier)a pencil drawing

something similar in shape or functiona styptic pencil; an eyebrow pencil

a narrow set of lines or rays, such as light rays, diverging from or converging to a point

archaic an artist's fine paintbrush

rare an artist's individual style or technique in drawing

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

to draw, colour, or write with a pencil

to mark with a pencil

pencil in to note, arrange, include, etc provisionally or tentatively

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.

pencil

Origin of pencil

OTHER WORDS FROM pencil

Words nearby pencil

Words related to pencil

How to use pencil in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pencil

Derived forms of pencil

Word Origin for pencil

Other Idioms and Phrases with pencil