The lighthouse beam appeared pencilliform against the fog, a narrow bundle of rays cutting through the mist.

The engineer used a pencilbeam to test the sensor's response to a narrow light source.

At dawn, pencilbeams pierced the mist, outlining the sleeping town in slender lines of gold.

The pencilfish darted among the aquarium plants, its slender body flickering like a brushstroke.

The museum guide pointed out a rare, pencillike fossil embedded in the rock.

The aquarium hobbyist bred several pencilfishes last summer, and their fry are thriving now.

Don't call him a pencilneck in front of his classmates.

The old sailor scoffed at the pencilnecks he saw poking around the ship's engine room.