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.

The journeys are constructed to echo one another; in each, the voyagers carry “a hipflask, two penknives, matches & candles,” as well as a copy of Geoffrey Household’s 1939 thriller “Rogue Male.”

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2020

They began excavating the ceratopsian with penknives and brushes.

From The Guardian • Jul. 17, 2019

All three studies featured a phase in which the two groups competed for scarce resources such as prized penknives.

From Nature • Apr. 16, 2018

We substitute data transmission, the Internet, and Web services for quill pens, penknives, and illuminated script these days. 

From Forbes • Nov. 9, 2012

In the window there were trays of nuts and bolts, worn-out chisels, penknives with broken blades, tarnished watches that did not even pretend to be in going order, and other miscellaneous rubbish.

From "1984" by George Orwell