penciln.
/ˈpɛnsl/, U.S. /ˈpɛns(ə)l/ I. An implement for drawing or writing, and related senses.
1. † b. A brush of this type considered as a vehicle or symbol of artistic skill or style, or of representational or descriptive skill. Cf. brush n.2 2b. Obsolete.In later use sometimes difficult to distinguish from the similar metonymical use of sense 2a.† c. figurative. An agent or medium which brushes, delineates, or colours. Obsolete.
a. A paintbrush made with fine hair tapered to a point, esp. a small brush suitable for delicate work; (formerly also) †a large brush suitable for painting or varnishing a surface, etc. (obsolete).Now chiefly historical, except as occasionally applied to the tapered brushes used in Chinese and other East Asian calligraphy. In later use frequently with some qualifying word, as bristle, hair, sable, etc., which serves to distinguish this sense from the more common current usage at 2a.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > brush > types of
pencila1350
calaber pencil1583
washing-brush1585
softener1756
hair-pencil1763
camel('s) hair pencil1771
pound brush1780
dabberc1790
varnishing brush1825
writer1825
red sable1859
sweetener1859
varnish brush1859
fitch1873
sable-brush1873
wash-brush1873
Poona brush1875
hake1882
rigger1883
airbrush1884
liner1886
sable1891
stippler1891
aerograph1898
mop brush1904
filbert brush1950
a1350 Recipe Painting in Archæol. Jrnl. (1844) 1 65 (MED) Tempre hit with thilke water that is i-cleopet gleyr, as thikke as thu wolt leggen hit with a pinsel, other with what thu wolt.
1352 in L. F. Salzman Building in Eng. (1992) x. 172 (MED) [30 quills of peacocks and swans and squirrels' tails..for the painters' brushes] pincellis; [thread for binding the brushes and pencils] brussis et pincellis.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) v. 157 (MED) Taak rubryk poured in sum litel shelle, And therwithal the baak of euery bee A pensel [L. festucula] touche as they drynke at the welle.
?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 96 A Pynsell, pincella.
1534 T. More Treat. Passion in Wks. 1297/2 We shoulde with a bundel of humility, as it were with a paynters pensell, dypped in the redde bloude of Christe, marke oure selfe on euerye syde.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 88 The leues [of the Pine tree] grow in tuftes together, not vnlyke vnto..som great pinselles that paynters vse.
1599 R. Fitch in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) II. i. 263 All the Chineans, Iaponians, and Cauchin Chineans do write right downwards, and they do write with a fine pensill made of dogs or cats haire.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 690 Plaisterers pensils, wherwithall they rub Walles.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §739 The Turkes have a Black Powder, made of a Mineral called Alcohole; which with a fine long Pencil they lay under their Eye-lids.
1672 W. Salmon Polygraphice iii. i. 165 Pensils are of all bignesses, from a pin to the bigness of a finger, called by several names, as Ducks quill fitched and pointed..Jewelling pensils and bristle Pensils.
1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 29 May (1965) I. 360 The Walls almost cover'd with little distichs of Turkish verse writ with pencils.
1788 J. Reynolds Seven Disc. to Royal Acad. 54 This will give you such a facility in using colours, that in time they will arrange themselves under the Pencil, even without the attention of the hand that conducts it.
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1828) IV. l. 542 With a camel's hair pencil take them out of the water.
1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 295 The smaller kinds of brushes are still sometimes termed ‘pencils’; but the use of the word ‘pencil’ instead of ‘brush’ as distinctive of and peculiar to water-colour painting, has become obsolete.
1955 William & Mary Q. 12 193 His colored crayons..were kept finely powdered in small glass cups, and he applied them with a camel's-hair pencil.
1996 Jrnl. Commerce (Nexis) 24 July 18 Taiwan—Direct Sale For Resale... Paint brushes and hair pencils.
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the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > [noun] > graphic or vivid
pencilc1385
paintinga1400
portraiture?c1430
picturing1562
hypotyposis1570
presentment1633
portrayment?1650
scene painting1777
word painting1807
portrayal1836
pictorialism1869
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun]
pencilc1385
paintinga1387
painturea1398
imagery1531
depaint1594
limning1606
brush1789
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 2049 With subtil pencel [v.rr. pensel, pensell, pencelles; peinture] was depeynted this storie.
1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie vi. 25 Doth not all our descriptions, which figur in the thought, and pictur to the sense both preach & praise the pencill, which causeth them to be sene?
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxxv. ix. 534 He and none before him brought the pencill into a glorious name and especiall credit.
?1614 W. Drummond Sonnet: Yee who so Curiously in Poems Of my rude Pensill looke not for such Art.
a1771 T. Gray Stanzas to Mr. R. Bentley in Mem. (1775) 227 Bentley..bids the pencil answer to the lyre.
1797 W. Godwin Enquirer i. vi. 41 The rich and solemn pencil of Tacitus.
1837 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe III. vii. 656 His descriptions are vivid,..his characters are drawn with a strong pencil.
1861 Sat. Rev. 12 199 Hogarth tickles the poor bardling with his pencil.
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1532 T. More Confut. Barnes in Wks. (1557) 797/2 Those synnes onely whiche are with the pencell of daily prayer ouerwyped.
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) iii. 156v By the pensill of your iudgement to draw foorth those parts out of euerie of those customes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. i. 163 They were besmear'd and ouer-staind With slaughters pencill . View more context for this quotation
a1674 T. Traherne Centuries, Poems & Thanksgivings (1958) I. 228 God's Wisdom is the Art,..his Word the Penicill, his Beauty and Power the Colors, his Pictures are all his Works.
1757 T. Gray Ode I iii. i, in Odes 10 This pencil take..whose colours clear Richly paint the vernal year.
1837 B. Disraeli Venetia II. 45 Tinted by the golden pencil of autumn.
2.
a. A tapered or pointed instrument for writing or drawing, consisting of a slender stick of graphite or a similar substance enclosed in a long thin cylindrical piece of wood, or fixed in a case of some other material (as metal, plastic, etc.). Now the prevailing sense.Occasionally also: this implement regarded as a vehicle or agent of artistic or literary skill.propelling, etc., pencil: see the first element; knight of the pencil n. at knight n. Phrases 3b.
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society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pencil
pencil1573
pen1612
1573 Treat. Arte of Limming f. ii First thou shalt with a pencell of blacke leade..trace all thy letters.
1581 Transcr. Accts. in Argyll Munim. (Argyll Arch., Inverary Castle) 16 June As his tiket subscryvit with my ladeyis hand pencil upone compt bearis.
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. v. 47 Note them with a pensil of black lead.
1683 J. Pettus Ess. Metallick Words (at cited word), in Fleta Minor ii Black Lead..of late..is curiously formed into cases of Deal or Cedar, and so sold as dry Pencils.
1708 London Gaz. No. 4404/3 Lost,..a Pocket-Book,..with a Silver Clasp, and Wooden Pencil, tip'd with Silver at both ends.
1799 Hull Advertiser 23 Mar. 2/3 Velvet Writing Paper, and Metallic Pencils.
1813 T. Jefferson Let. 13 Aug. in Writings (1984) 1288 If one person invents a knife convenient for pointing our pens, another cannot have a patent right for the same knife to point our pencils.
1871 M. E. Braddon Lovels xxii. 171 Her random sketches—some of them mere vagabondage of the pencil, jotted down half unconsciously.
1880 Printing Trades Jrnl. xxxi. 24 Conrade Gesner..in 1565, says that people had pencils for writing consisting of a wooden handle with a piece of lead.
1902 Daily Chron. 12 June 3/3 A few carefully careless scratches—that is all Mr. Raven-Hill uses.., but he hits the universal funny-bone with his pencil.
1927 W. G. Raffe Graphic Design ii. 98 The 6B pencil may give an undesirable shine at the critical place.
2000 K. Charles Cruel Habitations (2001) xv. 294 He picked up a pencil and began to doodle.
b. English regional (chiefly northern), Scottish regional, and Mining. The fine clay-slate or laminated shale of which slate pencils were formerly made; = slate pencil n. 2. Cf. pencil stone n. at Compounds 2. Now rare.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > for slate pencils
slate pencil1801
pencil1878
1878 Borings & Sinkings (N. Eng. Inst. Mining & Mech. Engineers) I. 265 (table) Approximate surface level... Soil... Clay... Pencil.
1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Pencil, shale, or ‘plate’ of a somewhat compact nature, used for coarse slate pencils.
1920 A. H. Fay Gloss. Mining & Mineral Industry 497/1 Pencil (N.Y. and Pa.), a bluestone quarryman's term for interbedded shale in bluestone deposits.
c. An implement similar to a pencil (sense 2a) containing kohl or some other colouring matter and used to give emphasis to the eyes, lips, etc., for cosmetic or theatrical purposes. Usually with defining word, as eyebrow, lip, etc., pencil (see also the first element).
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1881 Queen 12 Mar. (advt.) Eyebrow pencils, 12 stamps;..Blanc de Perle, 30.
1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 1 Sept. 3/1 He only used such materials as [are] in every actor's make-up box—grease-paint, rouge, lining-pencil, [etc.].
1948 Woman & Beauty Dec. 57 (caption) One of the new Gala lip pencils.
1960 Harper's Bazaar July 67/1 A soft eye~liner pencil.
1998 Cosmopolitan (U.K. ed.) Aug. 210/2 Earnshaw lines and fills in her lips with pencil, then dabs on..Lip Gloss.
d. to have the pencil put on one (Prison slang): to be reported to the prison authorities. Now disused.
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1929 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 13 Apr. 50/3 A prisoner who is reported for some violation is written up or had the pencil put on him.
1934 H. N. Rose Thes. Slang 34/2 Reported for Violation of Rules..to be written up; have the pencil put on; have the number taken.
3. Work executed with a pencil; graphite or a similar substance used as a medium for writing or drawing. Chiefly as in pencil.
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1796 M. G. Lewis Monk II. iv. 33 A small note, addressed to me... It contained the following words, written in pencil.
1803 Lett. Miss Riversdale I. 319 The Prince took down the notes in pencil..and promised to ink them over for Lady Belfont.
1836 C. Dickens Let. 30 July (1965) I. 158 I have put the names of the performers in pencil.
1906 M. Dods Later Lett. (1911) 213 Will you excuse pencil, as I am in a run down condition and my doctor bids me ‘recumb’ as much as I can.
1937 J. Squire Honeysuckle & Bee 112 What is the good of keeping all these pieces of paper and backs of old envelopes with the pencil gradually rubbing off?
1991 Artist Nov. 33/1 Bruce begins with preliminary drawings in pencil or charcoal.
4. Originally U.S. A person who writes or draws for a living; spec. (Journalists' slang) a reporter.
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society > communication > journalism > journalist > [noun] > reporter
newshound1699
writer1717
reporter1776
scribe1822
penciller1886
tripe-hound1923
newshawk1928
pencil1976
1976 M. Apple Oranging of Amer. 66 I'm just an anonymous pencil at Time, but you're a famous man.
1996 Financial Times 22 June 7/1 The new studio..will employ 70 ‘pencils’, as animation experts are called in the film industry.
2001 Denver Post 18 Feb. a18/3 Writers are called ‘pencils’, newspaper photographers are ‘stills’ and TV cameramen are called ‘sticks’, a reference to the tripods that hold their video cameras.
II. Something resembling a pencil (sense 1).
5. Chiefly Zoology and Botany. A small tuft of hairs, bristles, etc.
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the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > villosity or ciliation > [noun] > hairiness > tuft
pencil1616
penicil1826
penicillation1846
1616 B. Jonson Cynthias Revels (rev. ed.) iv. iii, in Wks. I. 229 Sir, you with the pencill on your chinne.
1780 W. Smellie tr. Comte de Buffon Nat. Hist. Gen. & Particular IV. 65 A young cat was brought forth in his house at Paris..with pencils at the points of its ears.
1792 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 2) III. 371 Pileus bright bay, set with dark triangular pencils of hair.
1856 P. H. Gosse Tenby xxix. 281 All the pencils of bristles were thrown forward, diverging in all directions, like the quills of an irritated porcupine.
1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 224 Campanulaceæ... Anthers naked or tipped with a pencil of hairs.
1901 M. C. Dickerson Moths & Butterflies ii. 211 Two long pencils of black plume-tipped hairs on the first segment.
1992 Zool. Jrnl. Linn. Soc. 106 165 Hair pencil fanning-out is a normal response to handling and enables ready sexing of individuals.
6. Science. A group of rays or a beam of radiation converging to or diverging from a point. Now rare or merged in sense 8(e).optic pencil: see optic adj. and n. Compounds.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > [noun] > rays or waves > set of
pencil1665
optic pencil1704
cone of rays1706
sheaf1863
wave group1923
1665 R. Hooke Micrographia Pref. sig. fv The middle Glass conveying a very great company of radiating Pencils.
1673 J. Gregory Let. 13 May in S. P. Rigaud & S. J. Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men 17th Cent. (1841) (modernized text) II. 253 Pencils of the same angles are more truly reflected by a concave than refracted by a lens.
1705 C. Purshall Ess. Mechanism Macrocosm 255 'Tis possible for any..Pencil of Rays to be so Refracted by a Concave Glass, that..they shall proceed from it in Parallel Lines.
?1790 J. Imison School of Arts (ed. 2) 95 Pencil, the appearance of electric light issuing from the point of a body electrified positively.
1837 C. R. Goring & A. Pritchard Micrographia 180 The extreme or marginal rays of the pencil will undergo greater refraction than those..nearly coinciding with the axis of the pencil.
1879 F. Rutley Study of Rocks ix. 80 A convergent pencil of polarised light.
7. Geometry. A set of straight lines meeting in a point. Also more widely: a set of curves of a given order, passing through a number of points corresponding to that order; a set of planes or curved surfaces passing through one line or curve.
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the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > set or system of
peacock's tail1570
harmonicala1746
pencil1840
harmonic pencil1862
sheaf1863
congruency1864
linkage1874
congruence1879
1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 402/1 A pencil of lines is a number of lines which meet in one point.
1865 A. Cayley Coll. Math. Papers V. 484 (title) On the intersections of a pencil of four lines by a pencil of two lines.
1890 Cent. Dict. (at cited word) Axial pencil,..the figure formed by a number of planes passing through a given line, which is called the basis or axis of the axial pencil.
1972 M. Kline Math. Thought xxxiii. 802 Sylvester..working with the contact and the intersection of curves and surfaces of the second degree was led to consider the classification of pencils of such conics and quadric surfaces.
III. Something resembling a pencil (sense 2).† 9. Palaeontology. A belemnite. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
8. A thing that is long, straight, and thin like a pencil; spec. †(a) any of certain molluscs with straight, slender shells (obsolete); (b) (more fully pencil diamond) a diamond-tipped tool used esp. for cutting glass; (c) a rod-shaped electrode made of carbon, esp. in an arc lamp; cf. carbon pencil n. (a) at carbon n. Compounds 3; (d) Medicine †a small medicated bougie (obsolete rare). (e) a pencil beam.Sense 8(d) is apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > glass-making equipment > [noun] > cutting equipment
grozier1404
grozing-iron1688
diamond1697
writing diamond1813
pencil diamond1837
1758 T. Flloyd & J. Hill tr. J. Swammerdam Bk. Nature i. i. xii. 67/1 In the Penicilli Marini, which the French call pencils or plumes, the most wise architect has disposed their windings in a very different manner.
1815 E. J. Burrow Elements Conchol. 206 (table) Dentalium..Elephantinum. Fluted Elephant's Tooth. Horn-green pencil.
1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 475/1 The pencil diamond used by glaziers to cut glass with is a small fractured piece of diamond..of a trapezoidal shape, weighing about the 60th part of a carat, and set in a wooden handle... Two pencil diamonds are now in use, the old and the new or patent pencil.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 735 Graphitoid carbon destined to form the pencils used for the electric light.
1889 G. M. Hopkins Exper. Sci. xviii. 512 By placing in..each holder a small pencil of battery carbon,..so that the points of the carbons touch, and connecting the instrument with the battery,..a small but very brilliant light will be produced.
1890 Webster's Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Pencil,..a small medicated bougie.
1913 London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 6th Ser. 25 604 A narrow pencil of α particles fell on a zinc sulphide screen.
1924 A. J. Allmand & H. J. T. Ellingham Princ. Appl. Electrochem. (ed. 2) xxv. 651 The heating is carried out by radiation from a number of carbon electrode pencils, extending across the tunnel from side to side.
1954 W. Lewis Self Condemned vi. 64 He pointed his bearded lips and puffed a pencil of blue smoke.
1967 Listener 30 Mar. 429/3 The picture is positioned, and a tiny pencil of X-rays is emitted at the spot where we want to analyse a pigment.
1973 G. Jenkins Cleft of Stars iii. 36 Called technically a ‘sharp’, my diamond pencil looked like an ordinary pencil made of metal.
1992 Gourmet Sept. 134/1 A lattice topping can be fashioned by forming bits of dough into long ‘pencils’, as well as rolling and cutting the dough into strips.
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the world > life > biology > organism > fossil > [noun] > types of
astroite1610
belemnite1646
mussel-stone1660
scallop-stone1668
trochite1676
conchite1677
ophiomorphite1677
pectinite1677
worm-stone1677
musculite1681
serpent-stone1681
sugar-plum1681
glossopetraa1684
ague shell1708
forket1708
mytilite1727
grit1748
phytolithus1761
fairy beads1767
fairy fingers1780
fairy arrow1794
gryphite1794
ram's horn1797
hysterolite1799
tubulite1799
thunder-pick1801
celleporite1808
ceraunite1814
seraph1822
serpulite1828
coprolite1829
subfossil1831
pencil1843
trigonellite1845
buccinite1852
rudist1855
guide fossil1867
witch's cradle1867
coccolith1868
fairy cheeses1869
discolith1871
Portland screw1871
spiniferite1872
cyatholith1875
cryptozoon1883
sabellite1889
palaeospecies1895
homoeomorph1898
rudistid1900
megafossil1932
scolecodont1933
macrofossil1937
hystrichosphere1955
palynomorph1961
acritarch1963
molecular fossil1965
mitrate1967
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Cephalopoda > [noun] > order Dibranchiata > section Decapoda > family Belemnitidae > member of
fairy fingers1780
thunder-pick1801
belemnite1833
pencil1843
1843 W. Humble Dict. Geol. Pencil, a name given to the belemnite.
10. slang. The penis. Cf. lead in one's pencil at lead n.1 3.See also etymological note.
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the world > life > the body > sex organs > male sex organs > [noun] > penis
weapona1000
tarsec1000
pintleOE
cock?c1335
pillicock?c1335
yard1379
arrowa1382
looma1400
vergea1400
instrumentc1405
fidcocka1475
privya1500
virile member (or yard)?1541
prickc1555
tool1563
pillock1568
penis1578
codpiece1584
needle1592
bauble1593
dildo1597
nag1598
virility1598
ferret1599
rubigo?a1600
Jack1604
mentula1605
virge1608
prependent1610
flute1611
other thing1628
engine1634
manhood1640
cod1650
quillity1653
rammer1653
runnion1655
pego1663
sex1664
propagator1670
membrum virile1672
nervea1680
whore-pipe1684
Roger1689
pudding1693
handle?1731
machine1749
shaft1772
jock1790
poker1811
dickyc1815
Johnny?1833
organ1833
intromittent apparatus1836
root1846
Johnson1863
Peter1870
John Henry1874
dickc1890
dingusc1890
John Thomasc1890
old fellowc1890
Aaron's rod1891
dingle-dangle1893
middle leg1896
mole1896
pisser1896
micky1898
baby-maker1902
old man1902
pecker1902
pizzle1902
willy1905
ding-dong1906
mickey1909
pencil1916
dingbatc1920
plonkerc1920
Johna1922
whangera1922
knob1922
tube1922
ding1926
pee-pee1927
prong1927
pud1927
hose1928
whang1928
dong1930
putz1934
porkc1935
wiener1935
weenie1939
length1949
tadger1949
winkle1951
dinger1953
winky1954
dork1961
virilia1962
rig1964
wee-wee1964
Percy1965
meat tool1966
chopper1967
schlong1967
swipe1967
chode1968
trouser snake1968
ding-a-ling1969
dipstick1970
tonk1970
noonies1972
salami1977
monkey1978
langer1983
wanker1987
1916 H. N. Cary Slang of Venery II. 30 Pencil, the penis.
1935 D. Thomas Let. Feb. in Sel. Lett. (1966) 151 Men should be two tooled and a poet's middle leg is his pencil.
1967 D. Francis Blood Sport v. 58 That Purple Emperor strain is as soft as an old man's pencil.
1979 D. Cook Winter Doves ii. iii. 64 Has she given you your oats yet?.. Have to keep your pencil sharp, Walter.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.† pencil-clasp n. Obsolete
pencil brush n.
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1794 J. Woodforde Diary 31 Oct. (1929) IV. 150 Dr. Thorne..dressed my Ancle the same as the last, only touching some part of the wound..with a small pencil brush in a quill, on which was something of a caustic nature.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. I. 68 To apply it, with a pencil-brush to the gums.
1876 G. B. Goode Classif. Coll. Illustr. Animal Resources U.S. 86 Hair of dog used for coarse pencil-brushes.
1986 F. Underwood & G. Warr in A. Limon et al. Home Owner Man. (ed. 2) ii. vii. 237 If darker streaks have to be introduced deliberately in order to match, use artists' or pencil brushes, after the base coat of stain is dry.
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1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1659/1 Pencil-clasp, a device to hold a pencil to the lappel or breast of the coat.
b. With the sense ‘using or made with a pencil’.† pencil-daubing n. Obsolete
pencil construction n.
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1873 E. Spon Workshop Receipts 1st Ser. 4/1 The whole of the pencil-construction should be most accurately made in the finest faint lines with a hard pencil.
1994 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) (Nexis) 20 May 1 e It contains the whole family's collections:..dolls, pencil constructions, salts and peppers, and Amish artifacts.
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1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 491 No such harsh Noise, as hobling Musick, or such an offensive Sight as Pencill-dawbing.
pencil drawing n.
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1796 J. Farington Diary 10 July (1978) II. 601 Edridge is fully employed by poeple [sic] of fashion, to make black lead pencil drawings.
1828 H. G. Lewis Let. 14 Oct. in Constable Corr. (1966) IV. 75 Send me a sketch, or pencil drawing of the Mermaid by Mr. Ffrance [sic].
1890 Science 21 Feb. 131/2 Among Ericsson's papers were found, after his death, a series of autograph pencil-drawings, showing those concealed features of his ‘Monitor’ system as originally conceived.
1994 P. Hamill Drinking Life ii. xi. 94 One man wrote the script, another penciled all the panels..another inked the pencil drawings.
pencil note n.
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1814 M. Edgeworth Patronage II. xxiii. 346 His Lordship put it into my hands, and I showed some pencil notes of my father's writing.
1937 PMLA 52 1025 A blurred pencil-note in the Malone copy of Springes indicates the probable source.
1991 R. M. Coates Moeran's Pract. Conveyancing (ed. 12) 86 The common practice of putting pencil notes on the abstract itself is to be deprecated as defacing an important document.
pencil sketch n.
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1827 W. Scott in Foreign Q. Rev. July 95 Hoffmann has given a pencil sketch of this uncouth figure.
1851 N. Hawthorne House of Seven Gables viii. 133 The pencil-sketches that pass from hand to hand, behind the original's back.
1994 Bk. & Mag. Collector June 33/1 The endpapers are decorated with vivid pencil sketches.
c. With the sense ‘containing or intended to contain pencils’.† pencil-vase n. Obsolete
pencil box n.
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society > communication > writing > writing materials > other writing equipment > [noun] > pencil-case
penner1393
scriptor1474
pencil case1552
pen-case1577
pencil box1856
1856 Statist. Information Industry Massachusetts 1855 176 Establishments for m[aking] of knife, shaving, pen and pencil boxes, 3.
1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 132/2 Pencil Box..9 by 2½ in., 1/0.
1992 N. Cohn Heart of World xvii. 267 I saw them first at the lily pond, fishing for tiddlers with a tea-sieve and a pencil box.
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1890 Cent. Dict. Pencil-vase.
d. Objective.
(a)
pencil-maker n.
ΚΠ
1735 Proc. Old Bailey 10 Dec. 17/2 A—— W——, Pencil-maker, was indicted for stealing four Deal Boards.
1799 Mercantile Advertiser 29 July S & I. L. Henry, Pencil-Makers, No 20 William-street.
1854 G. Dodd in Househ. Words 26 Aug. 45/1 Pencil-makers are looking about them, somewhat anxiously.
1984 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 34 196 In Arakawa, pencil-makers also are entrepreneurs even though they are lower-class in terms of income.
pencil-scrubber n.
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1904 N.E.D. at Pencil sb. Pencil-scrubber.
pencil-seller n.
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1874 Appletons' Jrnl. 6 June 718/3 The pencil-seller, who used so cleverly to sketch political caricatures and portraits of persons actually present among the crowd.
2000 Kirkus Rev. (Nexis) 15 Dec. The streets were full of deformed pencil-sellers and midget news-dealers.
pencil sharpening n.
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1874 Overland Monthly Jan. 5 The Artist ceased his interminable pencil sharpening.
1901 Harper's Mag. 102 798/1 I think he considered my pencil-sharpening a greater accomplishment.
2002 Ottawa Sun (Nexis) 2 Jan. (Showbiz section) 24 A play that took Virginia Woolf and made her about as exciting as pencil sharpening.
(b)
pencil-selling adj.
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a1777 S. Foote Cozeners (1778) i. 15 That pencil-selling, mongrel Manasses!
1995 Toronto Star (Nexis) 5 May d5 Coulter makes a vivid cameo as Tilly, the pencil-selling street-person.
e. Instrumental.
pencil-written adj.
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1833 E. Williams Jrnl. & Lett. Pref. p. iv My teachers..copied out my pencil written journal.
1902 E. Banks Autobiogr. Newspaper Girl 307 ‘Certainly!’ he replied, handing me a pencil-written receipt and the money.
1994 Jrnl. Mod. Hist. 66 20 A pencil-written marginal addition.
f. Similative, etc.† pencil-formed adj. Obsolete
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1830 J. Lindley Introd. Nat. Syst. Bot. 57 Stigmata..papulose or pencil-formed.
pencil-shaped adj.
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1776 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. Veg. Great Brit. II. 439 Appendages; generally two; pencil-shaped; with three divisions; fixed towards the end of the keel.
1890 Science 2 May 267/1 A pencil-shaped carbon electrode, fixed and immovable, standing vertically in the bottom of the lamp-frame.
1999 Washington Post (Nexis) 12 Nov. a3 Nigersaurus's 600 teeth are pencil-shaped, typical of the Cretaceous.
pencil-slim adj.
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1949 Women's Wear Daily 24 Jan. 6/5 Jacqueline Vienne features..long double-breasted jacket over pencil slim skirts.
1976 ‘J. Ross’ I know what it's like to Die xxii. 144 A pencil-slim ochre-coloured cigar.
1993 E. Oldfield Sudden Fire (BNC) A black turtle-neck sweater and pencil-slim leggings.
pencil-thin adj.
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1956 Amer. Midland Naturalist 55 231 This species is aptly named for its pencil-thin joints.
1998 H. Rous in O. Clark Diaries Introd. p. xxv Ossie stands alongside..the model, pale and pencil thin in black.
C2. † pencil fever n. Horse Racing slang Obsolete a disease humorously attributed to a racehorse whose starting price has suddenly lengthened as a result of negative reports on its preparation, condition, etc.† pencil-man n. Obsolete a painter (cf. sense 1a).† pencil-piece n. Obsolete a piece of pencil lead of a suitable length for a pencil.
pencil arm n. the arm of a device, esp. a pair of compasses, that holds a pencil for marking, recording measurements, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > [noun] > for measuring distances > compasses, dividers, or callipers > leg of a pair of compasses
shank1587
point1669
pencil arm1884
society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing plans or diagrams > [noun] > drawing instruments > for circles
compassa1387
shank1587
beam-compass1785
bow-compass1796
bow-pen1869
pencil arm1884
spring bow1998
1884 Science 16 May 602/1 The special mechanical advantage claimed for the Tabor indicator [on a steam gauge] is the greater lightness of its moving parts. The pencil-arm..is substantially the same in this and other instruments.
1892 E. Rowe Hints on Chip-carving i. 9 Do not use the left hand to move the pencil-arm of the compasses.
1993 Houston Chron. (Nexis) 16 Apr. h5 Run the sharp arm of the compass along the wall-ceiling joint and keep the pencil arm directly under it, using the pencil to mark the area that will be covered by border.
pencil beam n. a narrow beam of light or radiation; spec. a beam (typically of approximately circular cross-section) in which the individual rays (or paths of particles) are nearly parallel; cf. sense 6.
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society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > [noun] > other methods or operations > radar > beam
pencil beam1902
1902 R. Wilton Lyra Pastoralis 31 Hither, where cunning hands in glass have striven To shadow forth with pencil-beams of light, And colours deep and rich the Gospel-story.
1946 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers 93 iiia. 25/2 A Yagi aerial..presents the possibility of obtaining a ‘pencil’ beam of radiation, narrow in two perpendicular planes, from an end-fire array of comparatively small dimensions.
1955 Sci. Amer. Mar. 38/1 This antenna has a pencil beam which at a wavelength of 65 centimeters is five degrees wide.
1990 W. A. Livesey GCSE Motor Vehicle Stud. xv. 137/1 The spot light gives a long pencil beam, which is used to spot things a long way away, such as when driving down long straight roads.
pencil beard n. a narrow beard running from the lower lip to the chin.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > styles of beard
goat's beard1440
bodkin-bearda1529
pique-devant1587
crates1592
peak1592
spade-peak1592
beard1598
Cads-beard1598
spade-beard1598
punto beard1633
cathedral beard1635
stiletto1638
T bearda1640
trencher-bearda1668
tile beard1816
imperial beard1832
Charley1833
imperial1835
royale1838
goatee1841
goat1849
Newgate frill1851
Newgate fringe1853
Vandyke beard1894
torpedo beard1899
Vandyke1909
pencil beard1966
1966 J. Stevens Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing & Wigmaking 110/1 Pencil beard, a narrow strip of beard from the lower lip to the chin.
1996 Mirror (Nexis) 31 July (Features section) 7 He moved from being larger than life to larger than Antarctica. A huge white mass with a pencil beard.
pencil blue n. Calico-printing (now historical) a blue dye obtained from indigo, used for painting in parts of a design; (also) the process in which this dye is used.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > blue or blueness > [noun] > other blues
blue-green1659
water blue1723
king's blue1778
garter-blue1792
smalt-blue1794
pencil blue1815
stone-bluea1855
azuline1864
night-blue1868
canard1872
Labrador blue1873
electric1882
chasseur-blue1900
cornflower1907
petrol blue1913
larkspur1927
petrol1927
flow-blue1961
1815 S. Parkes Chem. Ess. II. 151 Pencil-blue is composed of the following ingredients, viz. Ten ounces of indigo finely ground in water;..the same quantity of potash of commerce, or the impure sub-carbonate of this alkali.
1860 C. O'Neill Chem. Calico Printing 337 Pencil Blue..receives its name from the manner in which it was applied to the cloth, viz., by means of a fibrous matter like an artist's pencil.
2001 P. Ball Bright Earth ix. 233 The introduction in the 1730s of the ‘English blue’ process, called ‘pencil blue’ in England. This enabled indigo to be printed directly on to cloth from metal plates.
pencil cedar n. (a) any of several junipers, chiefly North American, esp. the eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana; (also) the wood of such a juniper, used esp. for making pencils; (b) (frequently with distinguishing word) any of various Australian trees resembling these junipers or yielding similar wood; the wood of such a tree.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > junipers > [noun]
gorsec1000
savinOE
juniper-treea1382
junipera1400
quickena1400
juniperinec1430
cade1575
jeniver1585
melmot1644
oxycedar1646
red cedar1682
cover-shame1694
Bermuda cedar1700
pencil cedar1785
sharp cedar1840
Rocky Mountain juniper1852
tuckamore1863
tucking-bush1890
1785 Daily Universal Reg. 1 Jan. 4/3 350 Logs and Planks Pencil Cedar.
1820 in Hist. Rec. Austral. (1921) 3rd Ser. III. 18 An inferior kind called pencil cedar is abundant and useful as a Common Wood.
1848 J. Syme Nine Yrs. Van Diemen's Land 60 The woods that are most esteemed for the fitting up of houses..are Huon pine, black and silver mimosa, pencil cedar, and sassafras.
1884 A. Nilson Timber Trees New S. Wales 53 D[ysoxylon] Muelleri.—Pencil Cedar..D. rufum.—Bastard Pencil Cedar.
1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. v. 184 A huge log of pencil cedar had been cast among the boulders.
1965 Austral. Encycl. VII. 106/1 Glochidion Ferdinandii (variously known as white beech, pencil cedar, rain tree and ‘towwar’)..is a medium-sized, rain-forest tree.
1996 Chiltern Seeds Catal. 136 Pencil Cedar. Eastern Red Cedar. Very hardy erect Cedar, the wood from which is the best known for the casings of lead pencils.
pencil compass n. a pair of compasses, one arm of which holds a pencil.
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1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1659/2 Pencil-compass, one having a pencil-end at one leg; or a compass to which an ordinary pencil may be attached.
1993 Collins Compl. DIY Man. (new ed.) xi. 502/3 Measuring and Marking Tools... Spring dividers are like a pencil compass, but both legs have steel points.
pencil crayon n. originally and chiefly North American = coloured pencil n. at coloured adj. and n. Compounds.
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society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pencil > other types of pencil
coloured pencil1735
colour pencil1799
propelling pencil1852
programme pencil1868
copying pencil1883
grease pencil1890
chinagraph pencil1943
pencil crayon1953
1953 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Daily Northwestern 8 May 2/2 Comprising the interesting display are 27 water color paintings,..12 portraits finished in pencil-crayon;..and eight decorative borders done in crayon.
1996 M. Burgess Junk (1997) iii. 25 You can't do that sort of thing with pencil crayons. Pastel sticks would've done it.
1999 A. Pyper Lost Girls xlvi. 457 An adult talking to a child about stealing another's pencil crayons.
pencil diamond n. see sense 8(b).
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1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 250 Pencil-fever, a suppositious disease among racehorses..sets in when, despite the efforts of the ‘marketeers’, a horse can no longer be kept at a short price in the lists, through his actual condition being discovered, and when every layer of odds is anxious to write his name down.
1883 B'ham Weekly Post 18 Aug. 8/5 Among the latest victims of ‘pencil’ fever is Elzevir, who has been doing so badly of late that the horse-watchers advise their clients to have nothing to do with him.
pencil flash n. = pencil torch n.
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the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > torch > [noun] > electric torch > shaped like a pen or pencil
pencil flashlight1929
penlight1930
pencil flash1935
pencil torch1937
1935 R. Chandler in Black Mask Jan. 15/1 I tried throwing the beam of my pencil flash along the floor.
1991 C. Forbes Whirlpool (BNC) 138 Paula sat by his side, checking the map spread on her lap with a pencil flash.
pencil flashlight n. = pencil torch n.
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the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > torch > [noun] > electric torch > shaped like a pen or pencil
pencil flashlight1929
penlight1930
pencil flash1935
pencil torch1937
1929 ‘E. Queen’ Roman Hat Myst. iv. xxii. 307 Barry examined them..by the same pencil flashlight—a tiny streak of illumination.
1999 Washington Times (Nexis) 7 Sept. a2 With the help of a pencil flashlight, he used a Wordsworth poem to sound out the words during long prison nights.
pencil flower n. any of various plants of the genus Stylosanthes (family Fabaceae ( Leguminosae)), having flowers with a columnar calyx tube and native to warm or tropical regions.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > leguminous plants > [noun] > other leguminous plants
peaseOE
vetchc1400
hatchet vetch1548
mock liquorice1548
scorpion's tail1548
ax-fitch1562
ax-seed1562
axwort1562
treacle clover1562
lady's finger1575
bird's-foot1578
goat's rue1578
horseshoe1578
caterpillar1597
kidney-vetch1597
horseshoe-vetch1640
goat rue1657
kidney-fetch1671
galega1685
stanch1726
scorpion senna1731
Dolichos1753
Sophora1753
partridge pea1787
bauhinia1790
coronilla1793
swamp pea-tree1796
Mysore thorn1814
devil's shoestring1817
pencil flower1817
rattlebox1817
Canavalia1828
milk plant1830
joint-vetch1836
milk pea1843
prairie clover1857
oxytrope1858
rattleweed1864
wart-herb1864
snail-flower1866
poison pea1884
masu1900
money bush1924
Townsville stylo1970
orange bird's-foot2007
1817 A. Eaton Man. Bot. 85 Stylosanthes..elatior (pencil-flower).
1901 C. T. Mohr Plant Life Alabama 570 Stylosanthes..Pencil flower.
1963 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 90 357 Along the rocky banks of the river,..we find..the yellow Pencil-flower (Stylosanthes biflora).
pencil-knife n. a knife for sharpening pencils.
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society > communication > writing > writing materials > other writing equipment > [noun] > for renewing point, etc. > for sharpening pencils
pencil sharpener1850
pencil-knife1926
1926 E. O'Neill Great God Brown iii. iii. 81 Waving his pencil knife with grotesque flourishes.
1990 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 11 Nov. (Review Suppl.) 29 Pencil leads are not made of lead, nor rubbers of rubber; the penknife has become a pencil-knife; words lag behind their referents.
pencil lead n. graphite (formerly blacklead) as used for making pencils; = lead n.1 3; a slender rod of this used in a wooden pencil or a propelling pencil.
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society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pencil > filling for pencil
lead1816
pencil-piece1839
pencil lead1857
refill1883
1857 E. F. Underhill Hist. & Rec. Elephant Club 226 He informed me that my ticket had drawn a gold pen, with a silver holder, and a place in the top to put pencil-leads in.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1658/2 The pencil-leads as sold by stationers and jewelers for pencil-cases and ever~point pencils are little cylinders made of graphite and clay kneaded with water until it assumes the consistency of putty.
1994 N.Y. Times 22 Nov. c11/2 The calf cells were packed into white plastic tubes two inches long and the width of a pencil lead.
pencil line n. a line drawn with a pencil or resembling a line so drawn; frequently attributive, esp. designating a thin moustache, eyebrow, etc.
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society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing lines > [noun] > other lines
linea1382
rulec1475
stroke1567
trig1648
ductor1658
style1690
pencil line1758
guideline1785
section-line1827
subhorizon1829
broken line1937
wiggle1942
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > styles of moustache
rat-tail moustache1871
burnside1875
handlebar1888
Kaiser moustache1900
Kaiser Wilhelm moustache1901
toothbrush moustache1904
doormat1909
Kaiser Bill moustache1910
Old Bill moustache1915
cookie-duster1918
walrus moustache1918
Hitler1930
walrus whiskers1930
soup-strainer1932
pencil line1934
pencil moustache1961
Zapata1968
1758 Philos. Trans. 1757 (Royal Soc.) 50 290 At each corner was a graduated scale of inches, and pencil-lines drawn round the inside of the trough at every inch.
1854 C. Tomlinson Cycl. Useful Arts (1862) I. 611/1 When the graver is too obtuse, the shaving..hides the pencil-line which the engraver is following.
1934 L. Charteris Boodle ii. 46 Mr. Abe Costell..wore a pencil-line of hair across his upper lip with a certain undercurrent of self-consciousness.
1971 B. Malamud Tenants 98 Jacob..had uneasy eyes and a pencil-line mustache.
1976 New Yorker 15 Nov. 23/2 Greta Garbo, with pencil-line eyebrows above sex-drugged lids, plays a bored, sensual, wicked woman.
1991 Pract. Householder Apr. 24/1 Scribe pencil lines along the wall and ceiling.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > painter
paintera1325
painter-stainer1502
depaintera1522
picturer1581
pencil-man1589
brother of the brush1687
brushman1785
knight of the brush1885
1589 T. Lodge Scillaes Metamorphosis (Hunterian Club) 33 The pencile man that with a careles hand Hath shaddowed Venus.
1710 Ld. Shaftesbury Soliloquy 53 As in our real Portraitures, particularly those at full Length, where the poor Pencil-man is put to a thousand shifts, whilst he strives to dress us in affected Habits, such as we never wore.
pencil microphone n. a small, slender microphone.
ΚΠ
1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ii. 36 A ‘pencil’ microphone just peeping out of a well in the centre of the table.
1995 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 15 Jan. 17 a The Russian soldiers now wear balaclavas, ceramic bullet-proof vests and helmets with built-in pencil microphones.
pencil moustache n. a very thin moustache.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > styles of moustache
rat-tail moustache1871
burnside1875
handlebar1888
Kaiser moustache1900
Kaiser Wilhelm moustache1901
toothbrush moustache1904
doormat1909
Kaiser Bill moustache1910
Old Bill moustache1915
cookie-duster1918
walrus moustache1918
Hitler1930
walrus whiskers1930
soup-strainer1932
pencil line1934
pencil moustache1961
Zapata1968
1961 W. Brown Bedeviled 77 He was a tall, thin youth with slicked-down, black hair, a pencil moustache and shaggy sideburns.
1995 Independent 5 Oct. 13/7 A retired Salvadorean army colonel with a chest full of medals and a pencil moustache.
pencil pants n. originally North American trousers with narrow legs.
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1960 News Chron. 26 Sept. 9 This one is equally good with pencil pants.
1999 Irish Times (Nexis) 22 Mar. (Fashion section) 9 Many pieces carried a broad silver Mogul print—on the base of pencil pants,..across the shoulders of a collarless jacket, [etc.].
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society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pencil > filling for pencil
lead1816
pencil-piece1839
pencil lead1857
refill1883
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 947 The ends of the pencil-pieces become dry first, and by their contraction in volume get loose in the grooves.
pencil pine n. a tall, slender, long-lived coniferous tree, Athrotaxis cupressoides (family Taxodiaceae), native to high elevations in Tasmania, which has scale-like or lanceolate leaves adpressed to the branchlets and yields wood used for cabinet work.
ΚΠ
1846 N. L. Kentish Work in Bush Van Diemen's Land 22 The Celery-topped Pine is met with in the ranges of the upper part of the River Forth. [Note] This wood, also called the ‘Pencil Pine’, is a handsome specimen of the Fir species.
1891 J. Fenton Bush Life Tasmania (1964) 168 He also discovered at that period the beautiful pencil pine which grows in the southern and still unsettled parts of the district.
1999 J. Leigh Hunter (2000) 56 A small stand of thousand-year-old pencil pines, of a rich sombre green befitting their age, huddle by the shore.
pencil pusher n. North American derogatory = pen-pusher n.
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > [noun] > clerical
clerk1512
underwriter1654
conicopoly1680
karkun1803
babu1823
pen-pusher1875
pencil pusher1881
mabalane1925
paper-pusher1942
1881 Harvard Lampoon 20 Apr. 42/2 After various chilling repulses, our pencil-pusher discovered a man smaller than himself.
1961 B. James Night of Kill ix. 120 He'd be damned if he was going to be a mid-watch pencil-pusher just to please his ulcerated pro-tem captain.
1994 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) 5 June i. 21/1 The pencil-pushers had no idea about the kind of men their own governments had trained and prepared for battle so long ago.
pencil sharpener n. a device for sharpening a pencil, usually by rotating it against a cutting edge.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > other writing equipment > [noun] > for renewing point, etc. > for sharpening pencils
pencil sharpener1850
pencil-knife1926
1850 Rep. 6th Exhib. Mass. Charitable Mechanic Assoc. 124 Shaver's Patent Eraser, Burnisher, and Pencil Sharpener, combined. An ingenious combination, worthy of notice.
1932 H. Miller Let. 18 July in A. Nin & H. Miller Literate Passion (1989) 67 There was a man beating a drum with a mechanical drumstick—he turned something like a pencil sharpener.
1990 J. Mayer If you haven't got Time to do it Right 147 Now we have..electronic mail, voice mail, fax machines..and even electric pencil sharpeners.
pencil skirt n. a very narrow straight skirt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > clothing for lower body > skirt > types of > wide at top and narrow at bottom
pegtop skirt1912
pencil skirt1952
1952 C. W. Cunnington Eng. Women's Clothing ii. 245 Coatees..Worn with plain pencil skirt.
1995 Independent 24 Oct. 7/5 Even the pencil skirts that had been cropping up at almost every collection were cut so as to allow freedom of movement.
pencil stone n. now rare pyrophyllite or a similar material used to make slate pencils.
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the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > phyllosilicate > [noun] > pyrophyllite
pyrophyllite1830
pencil stone1868
1868 J. D. Dana Syst. Mineral. (ed. 5) 455 It [sc. pyrophyllite] is used for slate pencils, and is sometimes called pencil-stone.
1937 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) I. 162/2 Besides being employed as material for carving, these minerals [sc. pyrophyllite, steatite, and pinite] are used for slate-pencils (pencil-stone) and for tailor's chalk (French chalk).
1994 Summary of World Broadcasts Pt.3: Pacific; China (B.B.C.) (Nexis) 8 Apr. FE/1966/G A non-metallugical limited company in Fuzhou carried out open operations, long-prohibited in China, at its pyrophyllite pencil stone crushing section.
pencil-stripe n. a thin stripe, esp. as part of a repeating pattern in a woven fabric (cf. pinstripe n.).
ΚΠ
1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 104. 181/2 Boys' two-piece wash goods suit, made of heavy navy blue with pencil stripe.
1960 House & Garden June 21/1 (advt.) Alternating bands of closely spaced pencil stripes.
1992 New Republic 8 June 35/1 A gravelly, world-weary sharpster with a pencil-stripe mustache and a pin-striped suit.
pencil tablet n. now chiefly U.S. a notebook of rough paper suitable for writing in pencil but not in pen; a jotter.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > paper > [noun] > pad of paper > notebook
bookOE
notebook1565
tablebook1582
manuscript book1593
notary1651
pocketbook1660
tablets1773
jotter1882
pencil tablet1882
ring book1891
carnet1897
telephone pad1900
notepad1922
copy1943
1882 Dover (Ohio) Weekly Argus 31 Aug. 4/7 (advt.) We give free with every purchase of books or school supplies, a hundred-leaf scratch book or pencil tablet.
1944 T. D. Clark Pills, Petticoats & Plows 45 Across the way there was an assortment of school-books, pencil tablets,..and epsom salts.
1985 Supermarket News (Nexis) 22 July 1 Items to be featured will be Peanuts (pencil tablet and scribble tablet) and Garfield (notebooks and memo pads).
pencil torch n. a small thin torch.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > torch > [noun] > electric torch > shaped like a pen or pencil
pencil flashlight1929
penlight1930
pencil flash1935
pencil torch1937
1937 M. Allingham Dancers in Mourning iv. 59 He had a pencil~torch in his pocket.
1992 F. Forsyth Deceiver (BNC) 130 He flashed his pencil torch three times towards the white rock across the border.
pencil tree n. (a) the North American groundsel tree, Baccharis halimifolia (family Asteraceae ( Compositae)), which bears achenes having a long pappus (rare); (b) a succulent shrub or small tree of the spurge family, Euphorbia tirucalli, native to southern and tropical Africa and cultivated elsewhere; also called milk-bush.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > non-British shrubs > [noun] > North-American
wild tea1728
bastard indigo1730
mountain heath1731
groundsel-tree1736
amorpha1751
buttonbush1754
moosewood1778
pipestem wood1791
modesty1809
sand myrtle1814
wicopy1823
lead-plant1833
false indigo1841
sleek-leaf1845
arrow weed1848
rabbit bush1852
ribbonwood1860
rabbit brush1877
sea myrtle1883
pencil tree1884
tar-bush1884
ocean spray1906
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Pencil-tree.
1934 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 21 329 Baccharis halimifolia L.—Groundsel-bush or Pencil-tree.
1976 Hortus Third (L. H. Bailey Hortorium) 465/2 Euphorbia..Tirucalli L... pencil t[ree].
1999 Florida Today (Nexis) 15 Dec. (News section) 3 Other euphorbia include pencil tree, devil's backbone and red hot cattails.
pencil wood n. wood for making pencils; the wood of a pencil cedar.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood of specific trees > [noun] > cedar > types of
hinoki1727
sugi1727
Honduras cedar1799
cryptomeria1838
warracoori1858
pencil wood1859
Spanish cedar1907
1859 W. Dickinson Song Solomon i. 17 in Eng. Dial. Dict. T' main timmers of our house is pencil wood.
1920 B. Cronin Timber Wolves 108 The timber on it was mostly pencil-wood, and that what wasn't was flukey, cross-grained, and full of borer.
1998 N.Y. Post (Nexis) 10 Nov. (TravelPlus section) 50 The storm's..tidal waves virtually wiped out the remaining enterprises, including the mills that chopped the pencil wood.
Derivatives
ˈpencil-like adj.
ΚΠ
1649 Mercurius Elencticus (for King Charls II) No. 1. sig. A1v Nor can the internal agitations of our Arts-Master iniquity be proportionably, or perspicuously delineated to the life by such brushy devices, instead of pencil-like draughts of patheticall delivery.
1875 T. H. Huxley & H. N. Martin Course Elem. Biol. (1877) 33 The outgrowth of pencil-like bunches of branches.
1991 A. Booth-Moores Garden Pools, Waterfalls & Fountains (BNC) 85 Body shape, when viewed from above, is oval and elliptical for the female, and slim and pencil-like for the male.
ˈpencilly adj. like a pencil; characterized by pencils.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the face > [adjective] > coloured (of eyes) > shaped (of eyebrows)
plucked1762
pencilly1839
1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 174 Oh! gaze on her ringlets of raven-black hair, And her delicate eyebrows soft pencilly line.
1986 National Rev. (Nexis) 29 Aug. 29 The operation sprawls among the pencilly pines.
2000 M. Albo Hornito 163 I hold myself woozily afloat with that schoolish swell, that funereal, autumnal, pencilly, papery Back to School zing in my stomach.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
pencilv.
/ˈpɛnsl/, U.S. /ˈpɛns(ə)l/ 1.
a. transitive. Originally: †to paint or decorate with a fine hair brush or pencil (pencil n. 1a) (obsolete). In later use: to colour, tint, or mark with or as with a graphite or similar pencil; to apply (colour, shading, etc.) with a pencil. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to medium or technique > paint according to medium or technique [verb (transitive)] > other techniques
pencilc1500
water1733
flat1842
to oil out1859
marouflage1964
society > communication > indication > marking > mark [verb (transitive)] > with pencil
pencil1854
c1500 in J. Harley et al. Rep. MSS R. R. Hastings (1928) I. 425 Pensyl thi gold and thi silver with the cole temperd with gum water.
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 37 Time enough to pencill it over with all the curious touches of art.
1783 A. Wilson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 73 156 I penciled the bottom of the hollows all over black with China ink.
1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) I. xxxviii. 586 The sun..pencils with beauty the violet and the rose.
1875 W. Houghton Sketches Brit. Insects 89 The wings [of the insect] are often delicately pencilled.
1958 H. Nemerov Coll. Poems (1977) 143 Stumbling in cut-glass goblets, lacquered cups, And other products of his dreamy midden Penciled with light and guarded by the flies.
1967 A. Djoleto Strange Man i. 5 The minister dyed his grey hair black, pencilled his eyebrows and used women's face powder.
1999 Daily Tel. 20 Feb. (Mag.) 93/2 Large bright mauve flowers that have white throats pencilled with magenta.
b. transitive. To depict or represent with a pencil; to outline, sketch, or delineate in pencil. Also figurative: to depict in words; to produce or trace as though with a pencil.Formerly also with †out (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > describe [verb (transitive)] > in detail or graphically
descrive?c1225
depaint1382
painta1387
portraya1387
huea1525
portrait1581
imagea1586
picture1586
pencil1610
detail1650
depict1713
depicture1798
daguerreotype1839
word-paint1839
photograph1849
Kodak1892
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > paint [verb (transitive)]
meteOE
depaint?c1225
paintc1275
stain1519
to paint out1553
depeinct1579
limn1593
impaint1598
pencil1610
stroke1624
depencil1631
brush1897
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > draw [verb (transitive)] > in specific medium
crayona1684
chalk1709
pencil1774
crayonize1840
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 631 Lanthony..the situation of which Abbay Giraldus Cambrensis..shall pensile it out unto you for mee.
1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 98 Horace in his art of Poetrie doth pensill and picture out an old man in this manner.
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 372 These words thereupon being most artificially pensild.
1641 J. Johnson Acad. Love 34 A garland of painted flowers, which was so lively pencilled and garnished with proper colours, that the laborious bees imagining it to bee reall [etc.].
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued I. i. 196 Some..very learnedly insist that the image pencilled on the backside of our eye..is the object we behold.
1774 M. Mackenzie Treat. Maritim Surv. 74 Then sketch the Curvature between C and B, and pencil it.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xv Shaded towers and sunlit pyramids of ice penciled their fantastic outlines against the sky.
1873 E. Spon Workshop Receipts 1st Ser. 3/2 Drawings are first pencilled and then inked.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 525 Bloom releases his hand and writes idly on the table in backhand, pencilling slow curves.
1987 K. Lette Girls' Night Out (1989) 48 Sky had a fit because someone drank past the high tide mark she'd pencilled on her bottle of goat's milk.
2003 Econ. Geogr. (Nexis) 1 July 241 A Marvel project that was penciled and inked in Spain; sent to New York for editorial approval; sent to Hawaii for the color guide, [etc.].
2.
a. transitive. To write with a pencil; to set down in writing; to jot down.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > manner of writing > [verb (transitive)] > write with specific instrument
chalk1580
coal1605
pencil1673
charcoal1840
biro1962
1673 E. Hickeringill Gregory 256 Clean Latin style..pencill'd whether by himself or any other linguist.
1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 79 I have..pencilled, for your use, an abstract.
1825 S. T. Coleridge Aids Refl. 158 The first marginal Note I had pencilled on Leighton's Pages.
1861 G. Wilson & A. Geikie Mem. E. Forbes xii. 427 He would..pencil down in verse the ideas as they rose in his mind.
1908 E. M. Forster Room with View viii. 136 He recoiled without reading any more, and after a little hesitation sat down elsewhere, and pencilled a note.
1967 A. Carter Magic Toyshop vii. 139 The card had the price 1s 3d still lightly pencilled on the back.
b. transitive. Horse Racing slang. To enter (a horse's name, a bet, etc.) in a betting book. Also intransitive (chiefly Australian): to act as a bookmaker's clerk.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > bet on [verb (transitive)] > enter in book
pencil1871
1871 ‘M. Legrand’ Cambr. Freshman 35 ‘Well, then, I've been told of an outsider’, mentioning an animal whose name he had not had the pleasure of pencilling.
1919 C. Drew Doings of Dave 84 The first thing to be done was to find a clerk, as Thimble could not pencil.
1969 C. Drummond Odds on Death iv. 107 Kyle pencilled for the bookies.
1991 Hobart Mercury (Nexis) 23 Aug. Some, like one of my mates, learned simple maths by pencilling bets for a bookie.
2000 Sportsman (Nexis) 24 Mar. 107 Lee Freedman has pencilled a team of seven horses to lead his assault on the Sydney carnival.
c. transitive. to pencil in: (a) to note, register, or arrange (a date, meeting, etc.) provisionally or tentatively; to make a provisional arrangement with (a person); (b) to write down or fill in with a pencil.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > planning > plan [verb (transitive)] > arrange > provisionally or tentatively
to pencil in1898
1898 in J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era (1909) 194/1 Mr Charles Warner, who..is, as the phrase goes ‘pencilling in dates’ as fast as a manager can.
1926 Billboard 11 Sept. 36/4 Benjamin David..indicated he had a number of other acts under his direction ‘penciled in’.
1959 Times 22 June 4/2 He is a name to pencil in for the future.
1964 A. S. Byatt Shadow of Sun xvi. 307 He began..to pencil in comments, corrections, alternative phrases in the blank pages he left opposite his text.
1991 A. Carter Wise Children (1992) i. 27 She always pencilled in a big, black beauty spot below the left-hand corner of her mouth.
2003 Guardian (Nexis) 19 Nov. (Sport section) 34 Ferguson had been pencilled in to return after flu in last night's reserve fixture with Aston Villa, but was absent from Bellefield yesterday.
3. intransitive. Of light: to form into pencil beams. Also transitive: to form (light) into pencil beams. Chiefly poetic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > shine [verb (intransitive)] > emit rays > be emitted in the form of rays
standOE
ray1598
shoot1693
radiatea1704
pencila1774
a1774 O. Goldsmith Surv. Exper. Philos. (1776) II. 293 Every visible point..may be considered as a candle sending forth its ray, which splits and pencils out into several other rays before it arrives at the eye.
1846 J. H. Ingraham Young Artist & Bold Insurgent iii. 49 Lamps which shone through the windows of the State house, pencilling long lines of light upon the limpid stream.
1973 W. Soyinka Season of Anomy ix. 151 The sunlight pencilled thinly along the floor.
2012 G. Duncan Talulla Rising xxxiii. 183 Daylight pencilled through several large holes in the brickwork.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatment by topical applications > treat by topical applications [verb (transitive)] > paint with substance
pencil1822
paint1861
paint1862
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. III. 335 Pencilling the wound with lunar caustic.
1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvi. 331 Pencilled over with Plenk's liniment.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1350
v.c1500