penning

Pluralpennings (some meanings), penningar (some meanings)

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of pen.

   He spent the evening penning a long reply to the editor.

   Penning the final chapter left her both relieved and exhausted.

   Note

   One spelling, two verbs: penning is the -ing form both of pen meaning "to write" and of pen meaning "to shut animals into an enclosure." Both verbs take a direct object, so the object usually tells you which one is meant: penning a letter, penning the sheep. Even as a gerund it keeps that object, which separates it from the noun for writing itself.

   The farmers were penning the sheep before the storm arrived.

   Penning the cattle took most of the morning.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act or art of writing, especially literary composition.

   The poet's penning earned admiration across the kingdom.

   Critics praised the careful penning that shaped each polished essay.

   Similarwriting, composition, authorship

   Note

   A full noun, not the verb at work: it takes a plural and an of-phrase, as in "the idle pennings of a poetic daydreamer." In the plural it names the pieces of writing a person has produced, not the act of writing. An adjective like idle can make the phrase modest or dismissive. Compare penning a letter, where the verb form takes its object directly.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A former unit of Swedish currency.

   The merchant grumbled that a penning hardly covered the cost of the cloth.

   He set aside each penning he earned at the harbor market.

Showing meanings only. Show all 3