From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpenpen1 /pen/ ●●● S2 noun 1 DWRITE[countable, uncountable] an instrument for writing or drawing with ink → pencil, biro a ballpoint pen a felt-tip penin pen Please fill out the form in pen. a pen and ink drawing2 TA[countable] a small piece of land enclosed by a fence to keep farm animals in a sheep pen → playpen3 → put/set pen to paper4 [countable] American English informalSCJ a short form of penitentiary5 [countable] British English informal a penalty, used especially when talking about football
Examples from the Corpus
pen• We started a lively correspondence with about five pen friends each, scribbling away under the desk in lessons.• a fountain pen• This explains those tiny hillside pens bounded by rock walls.• I then looked at the boy again, who held his pen out towards me.• No mere holding pen, this is home for these creatures.• Expect 1993 to be the year of the pen.• He threaded the pen back through her fingers, gently.• A good-looking, pre-war pen cost less than a third of its modern cousin, and wrote just as well.• She also created Write a Senior, a website that links the elderly with pen pals around the world.in pen• Write your essays in pen not pencil.penpen2 verb (penned, penning) [transitive] literaryWRITE to write something such as a letter, a book etc, especially using a pen a song penned by George Clinton → pen somebody/something ↔ up/in→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
pen• Since his installation as bishop, he was known to personally pen all the letters of real importance to his diocese.• It's rather like the scene that I penned at the beginning of this column.• Others carried head-bundles of leaves and grass for the sheep and goats now penned behind thorn fences beside the houses.• On a different tack, Republican lawmakers have penned bills that would limit welfare benefits to teen moms.• The piece was penned by Mozart when he was eight.• Rescripts were often penned for a case, and not for the world at large.• There are plenty of exceptions, fine songwriters penning protest songs or brooding religious inquiries.• The flu kept him penned up at home for a week.Origin pen1 1. (1200-1300) Old French penne “feather, pen”, from Latin penna “feather”2. Old English penn3. (1800-1900) penitentiary 