penning

Verb (1)

pen (third-person singular simple present pens, present participle penning, simple past and past participle penned or pent)

1. (transitive) To enclose in a pen.
   • Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve.1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...

Verb (2)

pen (third-person singular simple present pens, present participle penning, simple past and past participle penned)

1. (transitive) To write (an article, a book, etc.).
   • Prying open the crate, you discover a carefully wrapped, handwritten copy of one of Matriarch Dilinaga's treatises. It is unlikely she penned it herself, but the flowing brushwork and intricate watercolor illustrations clearly show the hand of a master scribe.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Nonuel
2. (transitive, uncommon) To write or draw on (a surface) with a pen.
   • I penned up the walls with obscenities1973 May 5, Lou Sullivan, Diary

See all 19 meanings of pen