pencil

noun

pen·cil | \ˈpen(t)-səl

Definition of pencil

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : an artist's brush

2 : an artist's individual skill or style

3a : an implement for writing, drawing, or marking consisting of or containing a slender cylinder or strip of a solid marking substance

b : a small medicated or cosmetic roll or stick for local applications

4 : a set of geometric objects each pair of which has a common property the lines in a plane through a point comprise a pencil of lines

5 : something (such as a beam of radiation) long and thin like a pencil

pencil

verb

penciled or pencilled; penciling or pencilling\ ˈpen(t)-s(ə-)liŋ

Definition of pencil (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to paint, draw, write, or mark with a pencil

2 : to plan or designate tentatively —used with in penciled him in as the nominee

Examples of pencil in a Sentence

Noun

Use a pencil instead of a pen so you can erase your mistakes.

Verb

He penciled some notes on a piece of paper.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Brow pencil, concealer, eye shadow, baking powder, lip liner, bronzer, blush, highlighter, more blush: just a handful of the products that go into the 20-year-old beauty mogul‘s everyday makeup routine. — Jillian Ruffo, PEOPLE.com, "See Kylie Jenner Completely Makeup-Free Before She Does Her Entire 34-Step Beauty Routine," 27 June 2018 Related The central bank is likely to announce another quarter-percentage-point increase Wednesday and pencil in at least one more move this year. — WSJ, "Borrowing Costs Climb Along With Fed Rate Increases," 13 June 2018 For the lips, there are pencils in black and violet shades and glosses in nude pearl, shimmery coral, warm berry, and deep purple. — Shannon Barbour, The Cut, "At Long Last, Behold M.A.C’s Aaliyah Collection," 7 June 2018 The money was collected through a fundraiser in which popcorn, scented pencils, stickers and crayons were sold during lunch periods. — Staff Report, Daily Southtown, "Community news: Orland bingo player saves woman from choking," 24 May 2018 Her hair would be flying in the wind; there usually would be some pencils or pens in it. — Eileen Mcnamara, BostonGlobe.com, "How Eunice Kennedy Shriver parlayed her famous name into a legacy of public service," 27 Mar. 2018 On this cold Thursday morning on the manicured field at Pine Trails Park, Lowell twirled the gray mechanical pencil in her fingers. — Phillip Valys, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Volunteers preserve Parkland shrines with 'utmost care'," 16 Mar. 2018 Make a glass jar trap by removing the lid from the jar and poking a hole about the size of a pencil in the center of the lid. — Jean Nick, Good Housekeeping, "How To Wasp-Proof Your Backyard For Outdoor Summer Living," 21 June 2017 Step 2: Create a Base Kathryn Wirsing Use a brick red (try MAC Lip Pencil in Brick, $16) and fill in the lips with the pencil. — Lauren Valenti, Marie Claire, "I Tried Marilyn Monroe's Crazy Lip-Contouring Trick," 15 Apr. 2015

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

To pencil him in as a starter right now is short-sighted, at best. — Stephen Holder, Indianapolis Star, "Projecting Colts' 2018 starting offensive line," 27 Apr. 2018 Madden doesn't have any projects in development that would qualify, but that the effort could promote more affordable housing units -- and perhaps boost some market-rate projects that otherwise wouldn't pencil out financially. — Elliot Njus, OregonLive.com, "Portland weighs reviving tax breaks for rent-capped housing," 14 Mar. 2018 Anyone who can nail down one spot kind of gets penciled in every day in that spot. — Mark Gonzales, chicagotribune.com, "Ian Happ has earned large chunk of leadoff duties to start season for Cubs," 21 Mar. 2018 With the high cost of land and water in San Diego, farming rarely pencils out economically. — Pam Kragen, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Olivenhain couple aims to save 98-year-old Vista farm," 22 June 2018 Gonzalez once left Arizona in a huff, penciled out by a new regime that studied analytics before their time, cast off to spend his last two seasons with the Dodgers and Marlins. — Dan Bickley, azcentral, "Paul Goldschmidt picks up Diamondbacks torch from Luis Gonzalez," 23 Mar. 2018 Reds manager Bryan Price has Bailey, DeSclafani, Finnegan and Luis Castillo penciled in for the top four spots in the rotation. — Usa Today Sports, USA TODAY, "NL Central: One burning question facing every team," 9 Mar. 2018 The Fed has raised its benchmark short-term rate twice this year, most recently in June to a range between 1.75% and 2%, and officials have penciled in two more increases this year and three next year. — Nick Timiraos, WSJ, "Kudlow Says White House Hopes Fed Will Raise Rates ‘Very Slowly’," 29 June 2018 For only the ninth time this year, Andy Green penciled both Wil Myers and Eric Hosmer into the same lineup upon arriving Thursday at AT&T Park. — Jeff Sanders, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Padres eager to finally pair Myers, Hosmer together," 21 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pencil.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.