as in penitentiary
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
earned six years in a federal pen
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as in writer
a person who creates a written work
Alexander Hamilton is reckoned to be the pseudonymous pen behind two thirds of the Federalist Papers
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to house
to close or shut in by or as if by barriers
remember to pen up the dogs when visitors come over
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as in to write
to compose and set down on paper the words of
though relatively unknown at the time of his death, the composer had penned some of the most memorable show tunes of his era
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Recent Examples of pen
Kim Kay, Travel + Leisure, 9 Apr. 2026
At the front of the property, guests are greeted by Garden Valley Manor, a retirement pen for the goats that have already given enough to the farm and are now finishing out their days in leisure.
—Nora Heston Tarte, Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2026
Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Apr. 2026
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who wrote the piece for Japan’s Bunraku puppet theater, lived during Japan’s 18th century isolationist Tokugawa period and is believed to have never read Shakespeare, who had penned the similar love story decades before Chikamatsu.
—ABC News, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pen
Noun
Or shop for stationery at Itoya, with three stories of pens, cards, and elegant paper goods.
—Kim Kay, Travel + Leisure, 9 Apr. 2026
At the front of the property, guests are greeted by Garden Valley Manor, a retirement pen for the goats that have already given enough to the farm and are now finishing out their days in leisure.
—Nora Heston Tarte, Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2026
Verb
Her account illuminates the role of royal women as advisers, managers of court affairs, and participants in diplomatic life—a dimension of Mughal history largely absent from accounts penned by male authors.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Apr. 2026
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who wrote the piece for Japan’s Bunraku puppet theater, lived during Japan’s 18th century isolationist Tokugawa period and is believed to have never read Shakespeare, who had penned the similar love story decades before Chikamatsu.
—ABC News, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pen
Cite this Entry
“Pen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pen. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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