pencil
Americannoun
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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.
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a stick of cosmetic coloring material for use on the eyebrows, eyelids, etc.
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anything shaped or used like a pencil, as a stick of medicated material.
a styptic pencil.
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a narrow set of lines, light rays, or the like, diverging from or converging to a point.
a pencil of sunlight.
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a slender, pointed piece of a substance used for marking.
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style or skill in drawing or delineation.
He favored the late products of the artist's pencil.
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Mathematics. the collection of lines, planes, or surfaces passing through a given point or set of points and satisfying a given equation or condition.
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Archaic. an artist's paintbrush, especially for fine work.
verb (used with object)
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to write, draw, mark, or color with, or as if with, a pencil.
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to use a pencil on.
verb phrase
noun
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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
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( as modifier )
a pencil drawing
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something similar in shape or function
a styptic pencil
an eyebrow pencil
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a narrow set of lines or rays, such as light rays, diverging from or converging to a point
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archaic an artist's fine paintbrush
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rare an artist's individual style or technique in drawing
verb
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to draw, colour, or write with a pencil
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to mark with a pencil
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to note, arrange, include, etc provisionally or tentatively
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pencilsimple
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pencilssimple
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have penciledperfect
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have pencilledperfect
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has penciledperfect
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has pencilledperfect
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am pencilingprogressive
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am pencillingprogressive
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are pencilingprogressive
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are pencillingprogressive
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is pencilingprogressive
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is pencillingprogressive
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have been pencilingperfect progressive
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have been pencillingperfect progressive
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has been pencilingperfect progressive
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has been pencillingperfect progressive
Past
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penciledsimple
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pencilledsimple
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had penciledperfect
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had pencilledperfect
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was pencilingprogressive
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was pencillingprogressive
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were pencilingprogressive
-
were pencillingprogressive
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had been pencilingperfect progressive
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had been pencillingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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, -cule 1
Explanation
If you want to write something you can easily erase, write it with a pencil (instead of with a pen). When you color in the bubbles on a standardized test, a #2 pencil is the way to go. Unlike pens, which use ink, pencils have a pointed cylinder of graphite that makes marks on paper. Most pencils are wood with a thin center of graphite, although mechanical pencils are made of metal or plastic and look more like pens. You might describe an artwork as a pencil drawing, or ask if you can pencil some notes in the margins of your friend's copy of "Moby Dick." When you "pencil something in," you mark it tentatively on your calendar, knowing you might have to erase it later if your plans change.
Vocabulary lists containing 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:
In one, while high up on the mountain, he apologises to his mother for switching from pen to pencil because "the ink has begun to freeze".
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
They’re missing the place it shows up most: the small, unquantifiable human moments we quietly opt out of because the expected value doesn’t pencil out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
The researchers believe the bees mixed dirt with saliva to construct each tiny nest, which measured less than the size of a pencil eraser.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
I really pared back technology in my class, and we’ve pivoted back to paper and pencil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Father would stand at his vantage point on the platform almost on tiptoe with the joy of precision, holding his pocket watch and a pad and pencil.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Managers of seven Southern California water agencies have been studying options for building the pipelines and pump stations to transport the water on land if the technology pencils out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Well, that is when dividend investors need to download the 10-K and sharpen their pencils.
From Barron's ● May 8, 2026
In the end, we heard from a number of people in the crowd, including a man from Wolverhampton who recommended his city's Nando's, and a woman who designs pencils.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026
It was well worth it and not just for the souvenir pencils, notepad and “do not disturb” sign in the room.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
But in both my Mom bag and my Dad bag I carry notebook paper and pencils, a phone charger, a wallet, a USB thumb drive, and my books.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
Markets are largely expecting rates to be held this month, with a rate hike penciled in for September, though renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities could justify Fed governors raising rates now.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The 0.4-percentage-point drop in the index compared with a year earlier was steeper than that expected by economists, who had penciled in inflation of 3%, though gas prices remain elevated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
And he’s penciled in to pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
According to the individual estimates entered as “dots” on the Fed’s latest so-called dot plot tool in the June projections, three officials had penciled in one hike by the end of the year.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
The sheet of paper he thrust into my hand was similar to the schedule pasted above my study desk upstairs, except he had penciled in two hours of “time with your cousins” each day.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Goldman Sachs estimate is $474 billion in 2030 while Morgan Stanley has $330 billion pencilled in, according to forecasts shared with investors that the Wall Street Journal reported.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026
Myles Lewis-Skelly, who was pencilled in to start in midfield, was moved to left-back and Saka, who is building up his fitness after a hip issue, was brought into the number 10 role.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
But given the slowdown in inflation, analysts at Capital Economics said they had now "pencilled in rate cuts towards the end of the year".
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
The Fed currently has one cut pencilled in, and will update this forecast next week.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 6, 2025
At the bottom of the last page he saw pencilled in a faint set of letters and figures.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Members of the wider policy committee signaled they aren’t afraid to raise interest rates to achieve that goal, penciling in at least one quarter-percentage-point hike by the end of 2026.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
“We’ll see how it ends up penciling out in the end once we start to see some real results,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Eurozone GDP expanded just 0.1% in the first quarter of this year, with some economists penciling in a contraction in the April-June period.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
The spike in global energy prices hasn’t deterred Wall Street analysts from penciling in increasingly higher estimates for corporate profits in 2026.
From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026
All day one Saturday the girls gave each other curly permanent waves and plucked out their eyebrows, penciling a thin arc over each eye.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
While expectations of a swift eurozone rate hike have been tempered somewhat, some are now pencilling one in for the ECB's June meeting.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
Many experts are pencilling in sharper declines ahead, depending on how long the conflict lasts.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026
Most analysts expect further cuts in the RRR this year, with some also pencilling in modest cuts in policy rates if activity continues to cool.
From Reuters ● Jan. 12, 2022
For next year, I am pencilling in “vaccine” and “post-pandemic”.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 26, 2020
At Reading she had despatched an answering telegram to her sister; and for nearly an hour afterwards, she had sat in the corner of her carriage, covering sheet after sheet of note-paper with hasty pencilling.
From The Gambler A Novel by Thurston, Katherine Cecil
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
