Definition of "penlight" [pen•light]

• A small flashlight having the size and shape of a fountain pen. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "At that moment, the “bodyguards” each clicked on a tiny but powerful penlight."
• ""They would zip you up, put your cotton tail on and then you'd put on the collar and cuffs with the cufflinks facing a certain direction—don't ask me which—with your penlight hooked on the right so you could flash it to see the customer's club card," said Michele Dawn, now a licensed private investigator in California, who began her Bunny career when she turned 21 in 1965."
• "He flicked on the penlight he kept on his keychain and the bluish beam illuminated the name “Lady” and “3463 Belmont Street” and below that, a phone number."