pen

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pɛn/
• SAMPA: /pEn/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
•  Audio (US-Inland North)^{help, file}

Noun

Singular pen

Plural pens

A pen

Goats in a pen

1. A pen is a writing tool that uses ink.

   She sat down with pen and paper and started a letter to her aunt.

   He picked up his ballpoint pen, crossed out some words.

2. A pen is a small area with a fence around it, usually for animals.

   The pigs walked slowly around their pen.

Synonyms

• ballpoint
• biro
• playpen

See also

• pencil
• marker
• cage

Verb

Plain form pen

Third-person singular pens

Past tense penned

Past participle penned

Present participle penning

1. If you pen something, you compose it and write it down.

   The letter was penned by Shakespeare just before he died.

   I penned my first song when I was in college.

2. If you pen an animal, you put it in a pen.
3. If someone is penned in, they are in a place and cannot get out easily.

   Most of them were penned in watching the TV with their parents.

Synonyms

• write
• cage
• trap
• block