- (often in compounds) an instrument made of plastic or metal used for writing with ink (= coloured liquid for writing, etc.)
- an ink pen
- Let me grab a pen.
- to use pen and paper
- pen and ink
- in pen a message written in red pen (= using a red pen)
- from the pen of somebody (figurative) a new book from the pen of (= written by) Zadie Smith
Extra Examples- His pen was poised, ready to sign his name.
- I grabbed a pen and began taking notes.
- My pen's run out.
- The President has yet to wield his veto pen to block a bill.
- This pen won't write.
- pen and ink drawings
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- ballpoint
- feather
- felt
- …
- use
- write (something) with
- grab
- …
- write
- run out
- be poised
- …
- nib
- cap
- ink
- …
- pen and ink
- a small piece of land surrounded by a fence in which farm animals are kept
- a sheep pen
- (North American English, informal) a penitentiary (= a prison)
- (British English, informal) (in football (soccer)) a penalty (= a chance to score a goal without any defending players, except the goalkeeper, trying to stop it)
- That was a terrible pen.
Word Originnoun sense 1 Middle English (originally denoting a feather with a sharpened quill): from Old French penne, from Latin penna ‘feather’ (in late Latin ‘pen’). noun sense 2 Old English penn, of unknown origin.
Idioms
See pen in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee pen in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishthe pen is mightier than the sword
- (saying) people who write books, poems, etc. have a greater effect on history and human affairs than soldiers and wars
put pen to paper
- to write or start to write something
a slip of the pen/tongue
- a small mistake in something that you write or say
- Sorry, it was a slip of the pen—I meant to write ‘pheasants’, not ‘peasants’.
Check pronunciation:
pen