crow quill

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a quill from a crow's wing, especially one cut into a fine writing or drawing pen

   The narrow passage was scarcely wide enough to admit a crow quill.

2. 2
   noun

   a narrow, flexible steel dip pen or nib used by artists and draftspeople to produce very fine lines that broaden under pressure

   The illustrator added the smallest details with a crow quill and black ink.

A compound of crow and quill. The original tool was a fine pen cut from a crow's wing feather, smaller and stiffer than a goose quill. In the nineteenth century the name was transferred to a similarly fine steel mapping or drawing pen. The closed spelling crowquill is a historical variant.

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