26984 words

paper

19 definitions • 38 examples
1
thin, flat material made from crushed wood or cloth, used for writing, printing, or drawing on:

Examples:

a piece/sheet of paper
writing paper
Dictionaries are usually printed on thin paper.
a paper bag
This card is printed on recycled paper (= paper made from used paper).
Get the idea down on paper (= write it) before you forget it.
She works on paper (= writes things on paper) because she hates computers.
2

Examples:

The photo was on the front page of all the papers.
3
official documents, especially ones that show who you are:

Examples:

The border guards stopped me and asked to see my papers.
4
a set of printed questions for an exam:

Examples:

Candidates must answer two questions from each paper.
The geography paper is not till next week.
5
a piece of writing on a particular subject written by an expert and usually published in a book or journal, or read aloud to other people:

Examples:

He will give a paper on thermodynamics at a conference in Berlin.
6
a short piece of writing on a particular subject, especially one done by students as part of the work for a course:

Examples:

Mr Jones thought my history paper was terrific.
For homework I want you to write a paper on endangered species.
7
to cover a wall, room, etc. with wallpaper
8
a thin, flat material made from crushed wood or cloth used esp. for writing and printing on and in packaging:

Examples:

[ U ] a piece/sheet of paper
[ U ] a paper bag/towel
[ U ] paper cups/napkins/plates
Let's put some of your good ideas down on paper (= write them down)
9
A paper is also a newspaper:

Examples:

[ C ] I read it in the paper.
10
A paper is also a piece of writing by a student for a course:

Examples:

[ C ] One of the course requirements is a 20-page paper.
11
to put wallpaper (= decorative paper) on a surface, esp. a wall:

Examples:

We plan to paper the dining room.
12
thin, flat material used for writing, printing, or drawing on:

Examples:

There was a huge stack of papers on her desk.
a sheet/piece of paper Someone had printed the memo on yellow sheets of paper and posted it around the office.
The paper industry recovery of the last year shows little sign of slowing down.
13
a newspaper, or the company that owns and operates a newspaper:

Examples:

Murdoch has made an offer to buy the paper.
in the papers There was nothing about the trial in the papers this morning.
an article in Hong Kong's leading financial paper
a daily/weekly paper
a local/national paper
14
assets in the form of bonds, shares, etc., as opposed to cash:

Examples:

The rise in share prices encourages bidders to issue their own paper.
The system failed because people realized that the securitized financial paper was not worth the top rating it had received.
15
official documents that show who you are:

Examples:

The company was fined for hiring over a hundred immigrants without papers.
16
17

Examples:

The paper recommends a series of steps for dealing with the problem.
18
written or printed on paper:

Examples:

The engineers worked out their ideas on paper.
19
used to say that although an idea seems good when you think of it, it may not be so good when you try to use it:

Examples:

It's a good plan on paper, but will it really work?

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