n.
- A narrow, generally cylindrical implement for writing, drawing, or marking, consisting of a thin rod of graphite, colored wax, or similar substance encased in wood or held in a mechanical holder.
- Something shaped or used like a pencil, especially a narrow medicated or cosmetic stick: an eyebrow pencil.
- A style or technique in drawing or delineating.
- Descriptive skill: "His characters are drawn with a strong pencil" (Henry Hallam).
- An artist's brush, especially a fine one.
- Physics. A beam of radiant energy in the form of a narrow cone or cylinder.
- Mathematics. A family of geometric objects, such as lines, that have a common property, such as passage through a given line in a given plane.
- To write or produce by using a pencil.
- To mark or color with or as if with a pencil.
pencil in
- To schedule tentatively: penciled in a staff meeting for 3:00.
- To schedule a tentative appointment with: penciled him in for lunch next Monday.
[Middle English pencel, artist's brush, from Old French pincel, peincel, from Vulgar Latin *pēnicellus, alteration of Latin pēnicillus, diminutive of pēniculus.]
penciler pen'cil·er or pen'cil·ler n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
