stencil

Everyday

1. A stencil is a thin sheet of card, plastic or metal with shapes or letters cut out of it; you paint or colour through the holes to copy the shapes onto a surface underneath. tree →
2. To stencil is to make a pattern or letters this way. tree →
3. A stencil can also be the picture made using it. tree →

In the lessons

In art lessons, pupils use stencils to print patterns, letters and shapes neatly; street artists like Banksy are famous for stencil art. In history, cave people made hand stencils by blowing paint around their hands on cave walls, some of the oldest art we know. In maths, shape stencils help draw neat polygons and circles.

Examples

• I used a star stencil to decorate my card. tree →
• Hold the stencil still and dab paint over it. tree →
• We stencilled our names on our school bags. tree →
• Banksy is famous for stencil graffiti. tree →
• Ancient hand stencils were found on cave walls. tree →
• The road workers stencilled "SLOW" on the road. tree →
• Use a shape stencil to draw a perfect hexagon. tree →

Note

UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ: stencilled, stencilling (double l); USA: stenciled, stenciling. Countable noun: stencils. Not "stencel".