Meaning & use
porte-mines
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableBritishold-fashioned
A small thin case that holds pencil lead and pushes it out at the tip, used for drawing and writing.
Grammar: The spelling is the same in the singular and the plural: one porte-mines, two porte-mines.
Patterns
- a porte-mines
- use a porte-mines
He sketched the outline in light pencil with a porte-mines.
My grandmother kept an old silver porte-mines in her writing desk.
Word forms
| plural | porte-mines |
|---|
Common combinations
- a silver porte-mines
- The antique shop had a silver porte-mines in the window.
- fill a porte-mines
- You need to fill the porte-mines with fresh lead before the exam.
- a porte-mines pencil
- She prefers a porte-mines pencil because it never needs sharpening.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mechanical pencil
- This is the normal modern American term for the same object, and it is far more common today than porte-mines.
- propelling pencil
- The usual modern British term; porte-mines sounds dated and rather upper-class.
Commonly confused: porte-mines or portmanteau?
porte-mines vs portmanteau
A portmanteau is a large traveling case or a word made by blending two words, not a pencil holder.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'porte-mines' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A porte-mines is a pencil holder, so it is used for writing. The other options describe a suitcase, a bottle, and a garden tool.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “porte-mines”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.