as in enclosing
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 writing
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 penning
Brendan Le, PEOPLE, 5 Jan. 2026
Buffett will keep penning a Thanksgiving message, however.
—Yun Li, CNBC, 1 Jan. 2026
Schlossberg revealed that she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia just weeks before her death, penning a heartbreaking New Yorker essay about the diagnosis while revealing she had been given one year to live.
—Lara Walsh, InStyle, 31 Dec. 2025
The president has denied penning the message.
—CBS News, 19 Dec. 2025
Kinsella, an English author, is best known for penning the bestseller Confessions of a Shopaholic, which sold over 50 million copies in more than 60 countries.
—Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 11 Dec. 2025
Colette must have loved penning the dialogues, for the whole opera took her only eight days to write.
—Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
After penning the script, Reynolds will star alongside Sofia Black-D’Elia (Single Drunk Female), Carmen Christopher (The Bear), Jo Firestone (The Singles Retreat), and Gary Richardson (Saturday Night Live).
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2025
George Clooney has no regrets about penning a New York Times op-ed calling for former president Joe Biden bow out of the 2024 presidential election.
—Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 3 Nov. 2025
Verb
Her son Sebastian announced her death on her Instagram account, penning a loving tribute to the socialite and jewelry designer.
—Cite this Entry
“Penning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penning. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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