pencil
(pensəl )
Word forms: pencils , pencilling , pencilled
1. countable noun [oft in NOUN] A1
A pencil is an object that you write or draw with. It consists of a thin piece of wood with a rod of a black or coloured substance through the middle. If you write or draw something in pencil, you do it using a pencil.
I found a pencil and some blank paper in her desk.
He had written her a note in pencil.
2. verb
If you pencil a letter or a note, you write it using a pencil.
He pencilled a note to Joseph Daniels. [VERB noun + to]
pencilled adjective
...folded notepaper with the pencilled block letters on the outside.
Phrasal verbs:
pencil in
phrasal verb [usually passive]
If an event or appointment is pencilled in, it has been agreed that it should take place, but it will have to be confirmed later.
He told us that the tour was pencilled in for the following March. [be VERB-ed PARTICLE]
Image of pencil
© Vitaly Zorkin, Shutterstock
Collocations:
sharp pencil sharpen a pencil
Press the point of a sharp pencil through one eyehole then push scissors into the hole and cut out the eyehole.
The Sun
Always use a sharp pencil.
Times, Sunday Times
He'd pore over lesson plans during breakfast, wake up in the night worrying about not having enough sharp pencils.
Times, Sunday Times
If you are in the business of underlining enviable phrases while reading, make sure to sharpen your pencil.
Times, Sunday Times
That's a bit of a treat these days, when younger architects are hardly ever called upon to sharpen a pencil.
Times, Sunday Times
She noted that spiralising veg was 'a bit like sharpening a pencil'.
Times, Sunday Times
Every lost battle or turbulent day on the foreign exchanges and the obituary writers are sharpening their pencils.
Times, Sunday Times
Its enduring popularity has defied the critics, who sharpen their pencils at the start of each series to dismiss it as puerile, tired and insensitive.
Times, Sunday Times
Translations:
Chinese: 铅笔
Japanese: 鉛筆
- industriously
- industry
- industry analyst
- industry association
- industry average
- industry benchmark
- industry competition
- industry competitor
- industry consultant
- industry downturn
- industry employs
- industry exec
- industry expert
- industry insider
- industry invests
- industry jargon
- industry leader
- industry lobby
- industry lobbyist
- industry mogul
- industry observer
- industry professional
- industry regulation
- industry regulator
- industry relies on