pencil
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.
to write, draw, mark, or color with, or as if with, a pencil.
to use a pencil on.
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.
Origin of pencil
1Other words from pencil
- pen·cil·er; especially British, pen·cil·ler, noun
- pen·cil·like, adjective
- un·pen·ciled, adjective
- un·pen·cilled, adjective
Words Nearby pencil
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
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-ScienceTo 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 StudentsPerron 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 MagazineSmooth, 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 MagazineThere’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 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd 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 | THE DAILY BEASTThen 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 | THE DAILY BEASTIf 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 | THE DAILY BEASTCollectively, 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 | THE DAILY BEASTA 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 SullyAnd sure enough when Sunday came, and the pencil was restored to him, he promptly showed nurse his picture.
Children's Ways | James SullyWe 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 MicheauxHe 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 PorterDuring 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
/ (ˈpɛnsəl) /
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 function: a 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
to draw, colour, or write with a pencil
to mark with a pencil
pencil in to note, arrange, include, etc provisionally or tentatively
Origin of pencil
1Derived forms of pencil
- penciller or US penciler, noun
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
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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