pencil in

1 definition found

pencil in - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Pencil \Pen"cil\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Penciledor Pencilled;
     p. pr. & vb. n. Penciling or Pencilling.]
     To write or mark with a pencil; to paint or to draw.
     --Cowper.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Where nature pencils butterflies on flowers. --Harte.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     pencil in to write (a tentative appoinment) on an
        appointment calendar, so as to reserve time, but to allow
        the appointment to be readily canceled and replaced with
        another; -- also used figuratively, with other means of
        recording appointments. The notion being that something
        written in pencil can be more easily changed than
        something written in ink. The phrase is commonly used in
        the early stages of organizing a meeting of multiple
        persons, before it is known whether all attendees will be
        free at the suggested time.
        [PJC]