Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A small tray or dish, usually long and narrow, used for holding pens and pen-handles: they are sometimes made highly decorative.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • To the left of the blotter was an emerald glass pen-tray containing a silver penholder - a stick of green sealing-wax, a pencil and two stamps.

    Hercule Poirot's Casebook Christie, Agatha, 1890-1976 1984

  • How like Mam'zelle to lock the desk carefully and leave the key in the pen-tray!

    The Second Form at Malory Towers Blyton, Enid, 1898?-1968 1970

  • Then her eyes caught sight of a key lying in the pen-tray.

    The Second Form at Malory Towers Blyton, Enid, 1898?-1968 1970

  • The pen-tray was very ordinary, made of a kind of plastic.

    Maigret Hesitates Simenon, Georges, 1903- 1969

  • “The person who killed her knew that the scraping knife was there in the pen-tray, or he would have brought a gun …”

    Maigret Hesitates Simenon, Georges, 1903- 1969

  • Mr. Cliffordson sat down at his desk, moved his pen-tray and blotting-pad, and fidgeted with a jotter and a small metal ruler, and then inquired:

    Death at the Opera Mitchell, Gladys, 1901-1983 1939

  • Then she folded the sheet, and sealed it with a silver seal from the pen-tray, and wrote the address on the outside.

    The House of Arden Edith 1923

  • On his writing-table lay an ivory set: inkstand, pen-tray, blotter, and calendar.

    The Literary World Seventh Reader Hetty Sibyl Browne 1907

  • Next he took a new copying-pencil from the pen-tray on his bureau and stripping the wood away with his knife, dropped the blue lead into the vinegar and water.

    The Summons 1906

  • The pen-tray, which should be beside the inkstand, she hides away cleverly among the books on my reading-desk.

    Masterpieces of Mystery, Vol. 1 (of 4) Ghost Stories Joseph Lewis French 1897

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