penning

pen ¹  (pn)

n.

1. An instrument for writing or drawing with ink or similar fluid, especially:

a. A ballpoint pen.

b. A fountain pen.

c. A pen point.

d. A penholder and its pen point.

e. 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.

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[Middle English penne, from Old French, from Late Latin penna, from Latin, feather; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]

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penner n.

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pen ²  (pn)

n.

1.

a. A fenced enclosure for animals.

b. The animals kept in such an enclosure.

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

2. A repair dock for submarines.

tr.v. penned or pent (pnt), pen·ning, pens

To confine in or as if in a pen. See Synonyms at enclose.

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[Middle English, from Old English penn.]

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pen ³  (pn)

n.

A female swan.

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[Origin unknown.]

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pen ⁴  (pn)

n. Informal

A penitentiary; a prison.

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[Short for penitentiary.]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

penning - the act of creating written works; "writing was a form of therapy for him"; "it was a matter of disputed authorship" authorship, writing, composition verbal creation - creating something by the use of speech and language adoxography - fine writing in praise of trivial or base subjects; "Elizabethan schoolboys were taught adoxography, the art of eruditely praising worthless things"; "adoxography is particularly useful to lawyers" drafting - writing a first version to be filled out and polished later dramatisation, dramatization - conversion into dramatic form; "the play was a dramatization of a short story" fabrication, fictionalisation, fictionalization - writing in a fictional form historiography - the writing of history metrification - writing a metrical composition (or the metrical structure of a composition) novelisation, novelization - converting something into the form of a novel redaction - the act of putting something in writing lexicography - the act of writing dictionaries versification - the art or practice of writing verse indite, pen, write, compose - produce a literary work; "She composed a poem"; "He wrote four novels" write about, write of, write on - write about a particular topic; "Snow wrote about China" profile - write about; "The author of this article profiles a famous painter" paragraph - write paragraphs; work as a paragrapher dash off, fling off, scratch off, toss off, knock off - write quickly; "She dashed off a note to her husband saying she would not be home for supper"; "He scratched off a thank-you note to the hostess" rewrite - rewrite so as to make fit to suit a new or different purpose; "re-write a play for use in schools" write copy - write for commercial publications; "She writes copy for Harper's Bazaar" dramatise, dramatize, adopt - put into dramatic form; "adopt a book for a screenplay" draft, outline - draw up an outline or sketch for something; "draft a speech" author - be the author of; "She authored this play" co-author - be a co-author on (a book, a paper) ghostwrite, ghost - write for someone else; "How many books have you ghostwritten so far?" annotate, footnote - add explanatory notes to or supply with critical comments; "The scholar annotated the early edition of a famous novel" reference, cite - refer to; "he referenced his colleagues' work" write out, write up - put into writing; write in complete form; "write out a contract" script - write a script for; "The playwright scripted the movie"