number 2 pencil

noun2

1. •
   (US, Philippines) A pencil which produces a specific shade of dark gray, often required for test-taking and the completion of official forms.

   • I snapped to rigid attention when the teacher barked, "Clear your desks, get your number two pencils out, and get ready for your exam." Exam! What exam? — 1990
2. •
   (US) A standard, ordinary pencil; one which is not colored or mechanical or in any other way unusual.

   • How would that yellow number 2 pencil look as an ornament, inserted through a pierced ear-lobe or nasal septum? — 1997