pent

¹

[ pent ]

verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of pen ².

adjective

1. shut in; confined.

pent

²

[ pent ]

noun

1. penthouse ( def 4 ).

Pent.

³

abbreviation for

1. Pentecost.

pent

/ pɛnt /

verb

1. a past tense and past participle of pen 2

Word History and Origins

Origin of pent¹

First recorded in 1535–45; late Middle English pente, pent, past participle of obsolete pend, variant of pennen “to enclose, confine”; pen ²

Origin of pent²

By shortening

Example Sentences

“Post-COVID, we got this big influx of revenge travel, where everyone’s so pent up indoors and they’re just like, ‘Get me out there,’ ” McElroy explains.

From Slate

Demand for change at the top of the Russian military has been pent up since the invasion’s earliest days, when stories circulated about Russian soldiers going to war without proper food and equipment and losing their lives while answering to feckless military leaders.

From New York Times

Slow slip events occur when pent up tectonic forces are released over the course of a few days or months, like an earthquake unfolding in slow motion.

From Science Daily

“But also, there is so much pent up demand. The state is getting all this growth, and most of it is in the Treasure Valley.”

From Seattle Times

But the magazine mostly looked ahead with angst: the second trial over the King beating had yet to conclude, and its outcome, the story said, would “determine just how much anger is pent up in the city’s poor districts.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cramped
• definite
• limited
• precarious
• precise
• slender
• slim
• small
• thin
• tight