pencil in

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

pencil in (third-person singular simple present pencils in, present participle (US) penciling in or (Commonwealth) pencilling in, simple past and past participle (US) penciled in or (Commonwealth) pencilled in)

1. (transitive) to fill in or write in using pencil
2. (idiomatic, transitive) to provisionally schedule

   I'll pencil you in for tomorrow at noon.

   • 2019 October, Ruth Bagley tells James Abbott, “Crunch time for Heathrow western link”, in Modern Railways, page 75:

     A decision on the DCO [Development Consent Order] is pencilled in for April 2021, with physical work beginning in 2022 and construction completed in 2027.

   • 2021 May 19, Richard Clinnick, “EMR introduces Corby to St Pancras electrics”, in RAIL, number 931, page 34, photo caption:

     This was a 'shadow service' ahead of the full launch, pencilled in for May 16, when trains were due to start serving London.

Translations

to make a tentative booking

• Finnish: tehdä alustava varaus
• French: poser une option
• Greek: σημειώνω (el) (simeióno)

See also

• pen in

References

• “pencil”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.