pencil
gb/pˈɛnsəl/ us/pˈɛnsəl/
A1
Inglês
~ 9500
Acepções
0 acepção
unknown
A1
entity
1
Thin tool for writing or drawing
A thin stick you use to write or draw, made of wood or plastic with a dark or colored center.
Padrão de uso:
[someone] writes/draws with a pencil
Erro comum:
Learners sometimes say "I write by pencil." In English, we say "I write in pencil" (no article) to talk about the material, or "I write with a pencil" to talk about the object.
Sinônimos
writing tool (More general; includes pens, markers, and other instruments, not only pencils.)
|
writing implement (More formal and technical; refers broadly to any object used for writing.)
Colocações
sharpen a pencil
|pencil case
|pencil and paper
|colored pencils
|mechanical pencil
|HB pencil
Temas
daily life
|school
|art
|education
|arts_entertainment
|core_vocabulary
Exemplos
- She pulled a pencil from her bag and started taking notes.
- Please use a pencil, not a pen, on the test.
- The designer sketched the logo with a soft 2B pencil.
- I can’t find my mechanical pencil anywhere.
- The child colored the picture with bright colored pencils.
Exemplos para estudantes
- I need a pencil to write this word.
- There is a sharp pencil on the desk.
- The boy draws a house with his blue pencil.
- Put your pencils back in the pencil case.
unknown
A2
action
2
Write or draw with a pencil
To write or draw with a pencil, usually in a light or simple way.
Padrão de uso:
to pencil [something]
Erro comum:
Learners sometimes confuse "pencil" (to draw/write) with the phrasal verb "pencil in" (to plan something, usually in a schedule). Also note spelling: American English usually has "penciled" and British English often has "pencilled"; both are correct in their varieties.
Sinônimos
sketch (Usually refers to drawing quickly; does not always imply using a pencil, but often does in practice.)
|
jot down (Focuses on writing something quickly; does not specify using a pencil.)
Colocações
pencil a sketch
|pencil an outline
|pencil notes in the margin
|lightly pencil [something]
|pencil a design
Temas
art
|writing
|daily life
|education
|arts_entertainment
|core_vocabulary
Exemplos
- She penciled a quick map on the back of the envelope.
- The architect penciled an outline of the new building.
- He carefully penciled the answers in the boxes.
- I like to pencil little flowers around the edge of the page.
Exemplos para estudantes
- The girl pencils a big star on the paper.
- He pencils his name at the top of the test.
- The artist pencils a face before adding color.
- Please pencil the numbers next to each picture.
unknown
B2
action
3
Arrange something only tentatively
To write a time or plan in a calendar or list, but in a way that can still change.
Padrão de uso:
to pencil [someone/something] in
Erro comum:
Learners sometimes use "pencil" alone instead of the usual pattern "pencil in" for this meaning, e.g. saying *"I penciled a meeting"* instead of the more natural "I penciled in a meeting." They may also confuse this sense with the literal sense of writing with a pencil.
Sinônimos
schedule tentatively (More formal and explicit; does not use the metaphor of writing with a pencil.)
Antônimos
confirm (To make a plan or time fixed and final, the opposite of keeping it tentative.)
Colocações
pencil [someone] in
|pencil in a meeting
|pencil in a date
|pencil something into the calendar
|pencil in an appointment
Temas
business
|time
|daily life
|work
|communication
Exemplos
- Let’s pencil the meeting in for Tuesday morning.
- I can pencil you in for 3 p.m., but I may need to move it.
- They penciled the concert in for July, pending the singer’s approval.
- I’ve penciled in a visit to the museum while we’re in Paris.
Exemplos para estudantes
- Can I pencil you in for Friday?
- The manager pencils in a short meeting at ten.
- We pencil in our holiday for next month, but it may change.
- She pencils the job interview in her calendar.
unknown
technical
C1
entity
4
Narrow beam of light or similar
A thin line or beam of light or other things, like smoke or water, going in one direction.
Padrão de uso:
a pencil of [light/smoke/etc.]
Sinônimos
beam (More general; can be wide or narrow, while "pencil" suggests a very thin, focused beam.)
Antônimos
flood (In contexts like lighting, a "flood" suggests a wide, spreading light, contrasting with a thin pencil of light.)
Colocações
pencil of light
|pencil of rays
|pencil of smoke
|narrow pencil of light
|pencil beam
Temas
science
|physics
|nature
Exemplos
- A pencil of light came through the hole in the curtain.
- The laser produced a fine pencil of red light.
- Smoke rose in a thin pencil from the chimney.
- Engineers focused a pencil of X-rays on the sample.
Exemplos para estudantes
- A thin pencil of light comes through the door.
- We see a small pencil of smoke over the trees.
- The machine sends a pencil of X-rays into the body.
- Water falls from the pipe in a narrow pencil.
unknown
technical
C2
entity
5
Family of related geometric objects
In mathematics, a group of lines, circles, or other shapes that all share the same special point, line, or rule.
Padrão de uso:
a pencil of [lines/circles/conics/etc.]
Sinônimos
family (General mathematical term for a related set of objects; "pencil" is a more specific type of family, often one-parameter and geometrical.)
Colocações
pencil of lines
|pencil of circles
|pencil of conics
|pencil of planes
|one-parameter pencil
Temas
mathematics
|science
|education
Exemplos
- The two points determine a pencil of circles.
- We consider the pencil of lines through the origin.
- This transformation maps the pencil of conics onto itself.
- The lecturer illustrated a pencil of planes intersecting a line.
Exemplos para estudantes
- In this exercise, we draw a pencil of lines through one point.
- The teacher shows a pencil of circles with the same center.
- In higher math, a pencil of curves is a family of similar curves.
- The book explains how a pencil of planes can meet in one line.
Gramática
Forma no dicionário
pencil
AFI
GB/pˈɛnsəl/
US/pˈɛnsəl/
Sílabas e tonicidade
pen - cil (2 sílabas)
Stress on 1st syllable (pen)
Formas da palavra
Noun
- Base: pencil
- Plural: pencil, pencils
Família de palavras
Forms
pencils
noun
Related words
Expressões
paper and pencil
1/pˈeɪpɚ ˈænd pˈɛnsəl/
fixed phrase
Using basic hand-writing tools
Using paper and a pencil, not a computer or phone, to write, draw, or do problems.
Exemplos
- You won’t need a computer for the test; it’s just paper and pencil.
- He prefers to do math with paper and pencil instead of a calculator.
- Before we start coding, let’s sketch the idea with paper and pencil.
pencil in
1/pˈɛnsəl ˈɪn/
phrasal verb
Add something to a schedule tentatively
To write a plan, time, or meeting into your calendar in a way that can still change.
Exemplos
- I’ll pencil you in for Tuesday afternoon, and we can change it if needed.
- They penciled in the launch date for August, but it isn’t final yet.
- Let’s pencil in dinner next week and confirm the day later.
put pencil to paper
1/pˈʊt pˈɛnsəl tə pˈeɪpɚ/
idiom
Start writing something
To start writing something, such as a letter, story, or plan.
Exemplos
- I’ve been thinking about the novel for years, but I still haven’t put pencil to paper.
- Once she put pencil to paper, the ideas started to flow.
- It’s time to put pencil to paper and write your goals for the year.