pencil in

verb

penciled in or pencilled in; penciling in or pencilling in; pencils in

: to put (someone or something that may be changed later) on a schedule, list, etc.

Would you like me to pencil you in for Thursday morning at 11?

—sometimes used figuratively

He was penciled in as the director's replacement.

Examples of pencil in in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the social sector, strategic planning often suffers from optimism bias—leadership teams frequently pencil in arbitrary 5% to 10% annual revenue increases into multi-year plans, hoping top-line growth will magically outrun macroeconomic realities. — Carol O'Neil, Forbes.com, 5 Nov. 2026

The statement leaves the Fed’s next moves unclear, even though officials last month penciled in another rate hike for this year. — Christopher Rugaber`, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026

With a December 4 hearing penciled in with retired Judge Mitchell Beckloff, Paris Jackson’s team views things in very black and white terms. — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2026

But officials had already penciled in another rate hike later this year, which economists mostly expect to occur in December. — ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026