pencil
Americannoun
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pencils
plural
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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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pencils,
present (3rd person singular)
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penciled,
past participle, past
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pencilled,
past participle, past (especially British)
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penciling,
present participle
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pencilling
present participle (especially British)
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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
-
am pencillingprogressive
-
are pencilingprogressive
-
are pencillingprogressive
-
is pencilingprogressive
-
is pencillingprogressive
-
have been pencilingperfect progressive
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have been pencillingperfect progressive
-
has been pencilingperfect progressive
-
has been pencillingperfect progressive
Past
-
penciledsimple
-
pencilledsimple
-
had penciledperfect
-
had pencilledperfect
-
was pencilingprogressive
-
was pencillingprogressive
-
were pencilingprogressive
-
were pencillingprogressive
-
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:
The interesting twist is that Gapen and team not only think the Fed will hike in September, but now pencil in a second quarter-point hike in December.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
Dinowitz and Krishnan are also calling for the city to ban gamified learning apps, eliminate individual digital devices for kindergarten through fifth grade and move back to paper and pencil for standardized tests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt and TU Wien have now done that with a formula that can be worked out analytically, using what the scientists describe as essentially paper and pencil.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
Children will also be able to pick up free stationery, pencil cases and water bottles.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
She was looking up at the teacher, her pencil swaying back and forth between her fingers.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
Sharpen your No. 2 pencils for next week’s newsletter, because I’ll be leading Investing 101, Don’t Short Yourself style.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Similarly, many school supplies are produced overseas, like pencils and crayons, which are predominantly imported from Brazil, China, Mexico and India.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
Plus an assortment of quirky items including Pringles cans, Swatch watches, museum neckties and golf-course pencils.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
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
“It just seems like one thing I could help you with. To make up for all the pencils I’ve borrowed. All the times you’ve proofread my essays and reminded me about quizzes.”
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Most officials penciled in one more hike this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Tommy Edman was penciled into the leadoff spot and will play center field, while Alex Call will be the designated hitter and bat eighth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
Though they probably will have only four starting spots to fill in the postseason — and Yamamoto, Skubal, Snell and Glasnow can be penciled in when healthy — Ohtani’s build-up adds an interesting wrinkle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
That metric compares a stock’s price with the expected rate of growth that analysts have penciled in for the company’s earnings over the coming years.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Initially, he penciled out a construction budget of $500,000; by the end of the year, the budget for construction and ten years of operation looked more like $2 million.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Economists had pencilled in an interest cut after the rate of inflation dropped to 3% in January.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 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
Danske’s Carsten Lonborg Madsen had pencilled in a revenue decline of between zero and minus 8% so the minus 5% to minus 13% range will necessitate a downgrade from him.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 4, 2026
Canada's race switches from June to 22-24 May so it can take place in the same month as the Miami Grand Prix, which is pencilled in for 1-3 May.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 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
“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
The Federal Reserve is only penciling in one potential interest-rate cut in 2026, citing uncertainty in the Middle East as a reason to go slow.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026
“We’re not penciling in a recession or anything like that.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
The economic outlook has shifted considerably from earlier this year, with economists penciling in more growth and less inflation than previously expected.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2025
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
The lower consumer inflation figure for June gave policymakers enough "room to breathe" for now, but with further price rises expected Swonk was pencilling in two rate hikes for later this year.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Many experts are pencilling in sharper declines ahead, depending on how long the conflict lasts.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026
More than 80% of companies have beaten so far and S&P500 companies are on course for annual profit growth of 2.6% for Q3 and pencilling in some 12% earnings expansion for 2024.
From Reuters ● Oct. 27, 2023
Officials have offered more vocal support in recent days to earlier action and we are pencilling in a September announcement, but it is clear that the Covid resurgence could delay it.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 19, 2021
The wood-cuts of this edition seem to me to be executed with inimitable delicacy, resembling a pencilling which Raphael might have envied.
From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Isaac Disraeli
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.
