Word.ws English Dictionary

pencilful

pencilful noun: the amount that can be held in a pencil (medicinal bougie).

Noun

pencilful (plural not attested)

  1. (no plural, obsolete) The amount that can be held in a pencil (medicinal bougie).
    • A ſmall vial of diſtilled verdigriſe, which is a fine ſea-green: 11th. Some gum Arabic diſſolved in water. Theſe particulars are to be had at colour ſhops: where the colours in lumps, or liquids, are generally prepared with a ſufficient quantity of gum in them; but thoſe in powders muſt have a...1796, J[ohn] Robertson, edited by William Wales, The Elements of Navigation; Containing the Theory and Practice. […], 6th edition, volume II, London: […] F. Wingrave, […]; G. G. and J. Robinson, and...
    • “[…]Shall I give you the whole pencilful?” One blink. “Here it is. I’m pouring it between your lips. Try to swallow.”1952, Bernard Wolfe, Limbo
  2. (historical, no plural) The amount of paint, water, ink, etc. that can be held on a paintbrush.
    • We would suggest that quick-drying striping color, for fine lining, be ground stiff in oil, and then turpentine and japan be mixed, and kept in a small vessel, so that in the operation of striping each pencilful of color may be supplied with the quantity of drier requisite to insure its drying.1875, The Coach-Makers’ Illustrated Hand-Book, Second Edition, Containing Complete Instructions in All the Different Branches of Carriage Building. […], Philadelphia, Pa.: I. D. Ware, page 261
    • Take first a pencilful of quite pure water, and lead it along the top of your five-inch space, leaving a little ridge of water all the way. Then, from your supply saucer, put a pencilful of the mixed colour into the pure water; stir that up well with your pencil, and lead the ridge of pure water...1879, John Ruskin, “Of Light and Shade”, in The Laws of Fésole. A Familiar Treatise on the Elementary Principles and Practice of Drawing and Painting. As Determined by the Tuscan Masters. Arranged...
  3. (no plural) The quantity of lead (or graphite) that fills a pencil.
    • How about taking a penful of ink or a pencil[-]ful of lead and giving us your real name and address so that your note can be answered?1949 February 23, “A No-Name Person”, in The Weekly Kansas City Star, volume 60, number 1, Kansas City, Mo., page 9
  4. (no plural) The amount that can be written with a pencil.
    • It is not my intention to throw even a pencilful of fun at the country boy.1892 January 24, “Echoes From The Streets”, in The Pittsburg Press, volume 9, number 23, Pittsburg, Pa.
    • I had a whole pencilful of signatures and was in the position of a murderer who, after the first crime, does not hesitate to commit the second, third or fourth, for the punishment was the same.1949, Wilbert McLeod Chapman, Fishing in Troubled Waters, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J. B. Lippincott Company, page 114

Examples of pencilful in a sentence

  • Take first a pencilful of quite pure water, and lead it along the top of your five-inch space, leaving a little ridge of water all the way.1879, John Ruskin, “Of Light and Shade”, in The Laws of Fésole. A Familiar Treatise on the Elementary Principles and Practice of Drawing...
  • By this plan, dryer is added to each fresh pencilful of color, the pencil behaves better and the stripes run on as freely and with as good edges as when color is mixed with oil.1882, R. C. Miller, Miller’s “Boss” Painter’s Receipt Book, Third and Revised Edition. […], Xenia, Ohio: Nonpareil Printing Co., page 103:
  • Believe me, this and her enclosed “letter”—over the writing of which she has sucked almost a whole pencilful of copying-ink lead—is the continued work of many evenings.1917, Letters from the Little Blue Room, London: C. W. Daniel, Ltd., page 191:
  • Lift a pencilful of dry gold on to the palette, now dip enough gold size to bind it, and a touch of turps to make it run freely.1918, Australasian Coachbuilder and Wheelwright, page 506:

Origin of pencilful

From pencil + -ful.

Questions about pencilful

What does pencilful mean?
Pencilful means the amount that can be held in a pencil (medicinal bougie).
How do you use pencilful in a sentence?
Take first a pencilful of quite pure water, and lead it along the top of your five-inch space, leaving a little ridge of water all the way.
What part of speech is pencilful?
Pencilful is a noun.

Words near pencilful in the dictionary

  1. penciled out
  2. penciler
  3. pencilers
  4. pencilfish
  5. pencilfishes
  6. pencilful
  7. penciling
  8. penciling in
  9. penciling out
  10. pencilings
  11. pencill

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pencilful (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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