as in penitentiary
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
earned six years in a federal pen
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as in writer
a person who creates a written work
Alexander Hamilton is reckoned to be the pseudonymous pen behind two thirds of the Federalist Papers
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as in to house
to close or shut in by or as if by barriers
remember to pen up the dogs when visitors come over
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as in to write
to compose and set down on paper the words of
though relatively unknown at the time of his death, the composer had penned some of the most memorable show tunes of his era
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Recent Examples of pen
IEEE Spectrum, 29 Jan. 2025
Post Malone unveils collaboration with Oreo: See limited-edition cookie flavor What type of pen does Donald Trump use?
—Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 24 Jan. 2025
Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Jan. 2025
Graphic novel author Greg Rucka returns to pen the sequel’s script.
—Katcy Stephan, Variety, 30 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for pen 
Noun
The sender and receiver each have a copy of the pad, which is used for both encryption and decryption, following some simple but strict rules for pen and paper.
—IEEE Spectrum, 29 Jan. 2025
Post Malone unveils collaboration with Oreo: See limited-edition cookie flavor What type of pen does Donald Trump use?
—Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 24 Jan. 2025
Verb
Sandler and Herlihy wrote the screenplay for Happy Gilmore 2 after having penned the original film’s script.
—Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Jan. 2025
Graphic novel author Greg Rucka returns to pen the sequel’s script.
—Katcy Stephan, Variety, 30 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for pen
Thesaurus Entries Near pen
Cite this Entry
“Pen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pen. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
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