Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

penning

 - 8 dictionary results

pen⋅ning

[pen-ing]
–noun
pitching.

Origin:
1620–30; pen 2 + -ing 1

pen

1[pen] noun, verb, penned, pen⋅ning.
–noun
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. stylus (def. 3).
11. Ornithology.
a. a quill.
b. a pinfeather.
12. something resembling or suggesting a feather or quill.
13. Zoology. an internal, corneous or chitinous, feather-shaped structure in certain cephalopods, as the squid.
–verb (used with object)
14. to write with or as with a pen; put down in writing: to pen an essay.
15. to draw with or as with a pen: to pen a sketch.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME penne < OF penne pen, feather < LL penna, L: feather


penlike, adjective
penner, noun

pen

2[pen] noun, verb, penned or pent, pen⋅ning.
–noun
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. bull pen.
6. a dock having a protective concrete structure overhead, used to service and repair submarines.
–verb (used with object)
7. to confine in or as in a pen.

Origin:
bef. 1000; (n.) ME penne, OE penn (in compounds); perh. akin to pin; (v.) ME pennen, deriv. of the n.

pitch⋅ing

[pich-ing]
–noun
1. the act of revetting or paving with small stones.
2. stones so used.
Also called penning, soling.


Origin:
1685–95; pitch 1 + -ing 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To penning
pen 1   (pěn)   
n.  
  1. An instrument for writing or drawing with ink or similar fluid, especially:

    1. A ballpoint pen.

    2. A fountain pen.

    3. A pen point.

    4. A penholder and its pen point.

    5. A quill.

  2. An instrument for writing regarded as a means of expression: "Tyranny has no enemy so formidable as the pen" (William Cobbett).

  3. A writer or an author: a hired pen.

  4. A style of writing: wrote plays with a witty pen.

  5. pens Pinions.

  6. The chitinous internal shell of a squid.

tr.v.   penned, pen·ning, pens
To write or compose with or as if with a pen.

[Middle English penne, from Old French, from Late Latin penna, from Latin, feather; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]
pen'ner n.
pen 2   (pěn)   
n.  
    1. A fenced enclosure for animals.

    2. The animals kept in such an enclosure.

    3. Any of various enclosures, such as a bullpen or playpen, used for a variety of purposes.

  1. A repair dock for submarines.

tr.v.   penned or pent (pěnt), pen·ning, pens
To confine in or as if in a pen. See Synonyms at enclose.

[Middle English, from Old English penn.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
pen

  1. n.
    a penitentiary; prison. (Underworld.) : Bart got sent to the pen for fifteen years.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

pen  (2)
"enclosure for animals," O.E. penn, penne, "enclosure," perhaps related to O.E. pinn "pin, peg" (see pin) on notion of a bolted gate or else "structure made of pointed stakes." The verb, "to enclose in a pen" is attested from c.1200. Slang noun meaning "prison" (1884) is shortening of penitentiary (q.v.), but earlier use (1845) is probably a fig. extension of this word.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see penning on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: