A pencil sharpener (also referred to as pencil parer) is a device for sharpening a pencil's point by shaving one end. Pencil sharpeners are available in both electric and hand-powered forms.
A mechanical pencil sharpener is hand-powered.
A common, portable variety is usually small, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in size, and has no moving parts. One inserts the tip of the pencil into one of the holes, and twists the sharpener or the pencil while holding the other motionless. A blade inside the sharpener shaves the wood of the pencil, thus sharpening the tip. Such sharpeners can be bare or enclosed in a container to collect the shavings. The base of such a sharpener is often made of aluminium, magnesium (presumably to prevent an iron or steel blade from rusting), or hard plastic.