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

Pick the diameter and put the pencil in the corresponding hole, place the pin at the center, and rotate the ruler around it. — Maryna Holovnova, New Atlas, 6 Oct. 2026

The quality of life is way more difficult than being able to pencil in a Skubal, a [Blake] Snell, a [Yoshinobu Yamamoto], and a [Tyler Glasnow. — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Fed officials at their September meeting approved a quarter percentage point rate increase and penciled in the likelihood of another by the end of the year. — Jeff Cox, CNBC, 29 Sep. 2026

The vote was unanimous, 12-0, and 16 of the 18 policymakers who submitted forecasts penciled in at least one more rate increase this year. — Benzinga, Freep.com, 19 Sep. 2026