From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpencilpen‧cil1 /ˈpensəl/ ●●● S2 noun [countable, uncountable] 
DHWRITEan instrument that you use for writing or drawing, consisting of a wooden stick with a thin piece of a black or coloured substance in the middle a sharp pencil a blue pencilin pencil a note written in pencil a pencil sketch → eyebrow pencil
DHWRITEan instrument that you use for writing or drawing, consisting of a wooden stick with a thin piece of a black or coloured substance in the middle a sharp pencil a blue pencilin pencil a note written in pencil a pencil sketch → eyebrow pencilExamples from the Corpus
pencil• Anyone got a pencil and paper?• Friedman argued that no single person, even a Nobel laureate, could make a pencil.• As the children arrive, give them a pencil and paper and ask them to join one of three or four groups.• Another picture, a pen and pencil drawing, is a more devastating exposure still.• The teacher's cool pencil charts normal against the brown of the girl's cheek.• There were several colors of pencils, even a slide rule, at which she was frowning.• a red pencil• Let the students see that the student is able to cover both sides without lifting the pencil.in pencil• Do the math problems in pencil , not pen.pencilpencil2 verb (pencilled, pencilling British English, penciled, penciling American English) [transitive] WRITEto write something or make a mark with a pencil a name pencilled on the envelope → pencil somebody/something ↔ in→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
pencil• With clear signs of a recovery, analysts are pencilling in a modest profit for the full year.• A hearing has been pencilled in for September 17.• Hoare said last night it now expected to be trimming its full year forecast back from the £30m pencilled in so far.• We may pencil in the forest and the ponds.• She can pencil in the weight she hopes to be at the end of each month.• I found her name penciled inside the back cover of the book.• We wander through it like Casaubon, clutching lists we've pencilled on the backs of envelopes.Origin pencil1 (1300-1400) Old French pincel “paintbrush”, from Latin penicillus “little tail”, from penis; → PENIS 