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
Heide Janssen, Oc Register, 15 Mar. 2026
Balat wrote after being given a pen and paper following his arrest, according to the FBI.
—Michael Ruiz , Greg Wehner , Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 14 Mar. 2026
Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2026
Built around a new electric-car architecture, the Neue Klasse has been penned with nimble handling, state-of-the-art digital interfaces, and fast charging in mind.
—Marty Padgett, The Drive, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pen
Noun
Tiffany experimented and tried several types of media such as watercolors, acrylics, pen, graphite, scratch-board and charcoal.
—Heide Janssen, Oc Register, 15 Mar. 2026
Balat wrote after being given a pen and paper following his arrest, according to the FBI.
—Michael Ruiz , Greg Wehner , Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 14 Mar. 2026
Verb
The Knicks have penned Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges in as starters for the last two seasons.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2026
Built around a new electric-car architecture, the Neue Klasse has been penned with nimble handling, state-of-the-art digital interfaces, and fast charging in mind.
—Marty Padgett, The Drive, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pen
Cite this Entry
“Pen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pen. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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