pencil eraser
- noun
- /ˈpɛnsl ɪˈreɪsər/
- They began to license NBA-logo bed sheets, NHL pencil erasers, and NFL credit cards.
- size of a pencil eraser
- larger than a pencil eraser
Examples
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Is this a cat tongue, a pencil eraser, or a tickle party?
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Diameters: Spots larger than the end of a pencil eraser.
Blog text (12) -
And I will take the pencil eraser.
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(I would use a pencil eraser!)
Blog text (9) -
She shows me a small, almost circular, scabbed-over abrasion approximately the size of a pencil eraser head.
Fiction book (2001) -
She used the pencil eraser to correct her mistakes in the math homework.
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After finishing the draft, he noticed errors and reached for a pencil eraser to fix them.
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The teacher recommended using a pencil eraser for making quick corrections on the test paper.
Synonyms
A small soft piece used to remove pencil marks
A small rubber or plastic tool for removing pencil marks
A small block of rubber that removes pencil marks
How Effective
- US
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'pencil' (a writing implement) with 'eraser' (a tool for removing marks); a learner who knows both nouns can infer this refers to the eraser associated with a pencil. This noun–noun compound follows common and cross-linguistic compounding patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
Pencil eraser is the compound name for the small rubber piece at the end of a pencil that you rub to remove marks. The name gives the hidden image: the eraser on a pencil 'erases' writing, so it means 'a tool for removing mistakes'.