PEN


Meaning of PEN in English

pen 1

— penlike , adj. — penner , n.

/pen/ , n. , v. , penned, penning .

n.

1. any of various instruments for writing or drawing with ink or a similar substance.

2. a detachable metal penpoint, filled by dipping or with a quill; nib.

3. such a penpoint with its penholder.

4. fountain pen.

5. ball-point pen.

6. the pen as the instrument of writing or authorship: The pen is mightier than the sword.

7. a person's style or quality of writing: He writes with a witty, incisive pen.

8. a writer: I leave this story to abler pens.

9. the profession of writing: a master of the pen.

10. Ornith.

a. a quill.

b. a pinfeather.

11. something resembling or suggesting a feather or quill.

12. Zool. an internal, corneous or chitinous, feather-shaped structure in certain cephalopods, as the squid.

v.t.

13. to write with or as with a pen; put down in writing: to pen an essay.

14. to draw with or as with a pen: to pen a sketch.

[ 1250-1300; ME penne penne pen, feather penna, L: feather ]

pen 2

/pen/ , n. , v. , penned or pent, penning .

n.

1. a small enclosure for domestic animals.

2. animals so enclosed: We have a pen of twenty sheep.

3. an enclosure used for confinement or safekeeping: We have built several pens to hold our harvest of corn.

4. playpen.

5. See bull pen .

6. a dock having a protective concrete structure overhead, used to service and repair submarines.

v.t.

7. to confine in or as in a pen.

[ bef. 1000; (n.) ME penne, OE penn (in compounds); perh. akin to PIN; (v.) ME pennen, deriv. of the n. ]

pen 3

/pen/ , n. Slang.

penitentiary (def. 1).

[ 1880-85; Amer.; shortened form ]

pen 4

/pen/ , n.

a female swan.

[ 1540-50; orig. uncert. ]

Random House Webster's Unabridged English dictionary.      Полный английский словарь Вебстер - Random House .