put pen to paper

English

Alternative forms

• set pen to paper

Verb

put pen to paper (third-person singular simple present puts pen to paper, present participle putting pen to paper, simple past and past participle put pen to paper)

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To write something (especially using pen and ink).
2. (intransitive, idiomatic) To begin to write something.
   • 2023 June 28, “Network News: Government challenged over inertia on decarbonisation”, in RAIL, number 986, page 19:

     "The Government's response indicates there is still some way to go before they will be ready to put pen to paper on a detailed plan."

Related terms

• pen and paper

Translations

to write

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 下筆 / 下笔 (zh) (xiàbǐ), 落筆 / 落笔 (zh) (luòbǐ)

• Finnish: kirjoittaa (fi), kirjoittaa kynällä
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: zu Papier bringen
• Hungarian: tollat ragad

to begin to write

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 下筆 / 下笔 (zh) (xiàbǐ), 落筆 / 落笔 (zh) (luòbǐ)

• Finnish: tarttua kynään
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: die Feder ansetzen
• Hungarian: írni kezd

Further reading

• “put set pen to paper”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “put set pen to paper” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “put pen to paper”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “put pen to paper”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “put pen to paper”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “put pen to paper” (US) / “put pen to paper” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.