Sekirov Dictionary

paper

UK /ˈpeɪ̯.pə/US /ˈpeɪ̯.pəɹ/

noun 16
verb 9
adjective 4
forms 3
phrases 4

noun16

•
a thin, flat material, usually made from wood, that people write or print on
- Draw on the paper! Not on the walls!
- The paper mill on the south side of town makes various grades of paper and employs hundreds of people.
A medicinal preparation spread upon paper, intended for external application.
•
Ellipsis of wallpaper.
- The paperhangers had just finished hanging the paper in the dining room when the interior decorator walked in and exclaimed that it was the wrong color.
•
Ellipsis of wrapping paper.
- In those days, you asked the butcher for a block of cheese, and he wrapped it up in paper for you.
- The kids could hardly wait to tear the paper off their Christmas gifts.
•
Ellipsis of newspaper; anything used as such (such as a newsletter or listing magazine).
- Read all about it in this morning's paper!
- In those days, the Reporter Dispatch was the paper of record around here, and everyone who was anyone took the paper [was a subscriber].
•
A written document, generally shorter than a book; usually written as a school assignment or a government report.
- I can't go out tonight. I have a paper due tomorrow, and I need to finish it tonight.
•
A written document that reports scientific or academic research and is usually subjected to peer review before publication in a scientific journal (as a journal article or the manuscript for one) or in the proceedings of a scientific or academic meeting (such as a conference, workshop, or symposium).
- Their team published a paper in the leading journal of their field, and its widespread impact elevated the reputation of their university department.
(UK, Hong-Kong) A set of examination questions to be answered at one session.
(slang) Money.
•
Any financial assets other than specie, including paper money, commercial paper, and others.
- That great, rich institution,[…]has three millions and a half specie in its vaults, and nearly six millions invested in paper, loans, discounts, pledges—suddenly turned up the other day[…]. — 1859
An open hand (a handshape resembling a sheet of paper), that beats rock and loses to scissors. It loses to lizard and beats Spock in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.
•
(New-Zealand) A university course.
- She's taking four papers this semester: two in psychology and two in sociology.
•
A paper packet containing a quantity of items.
- a paper of pins, tacks, opium, etc.
A substance resembling paper secreted by certain invertebrates as protection for their nests and eggs.
(old-fashioned) Free passes of admission to a theatre, etc.
(old-fashioned) The people admitted by free passes.

verb9

•
To apply paper to.
- to paper the hallway walls
To paste the endpapers and flyleaves at the beginning and end of a book before fitting it into its covers.
(US, informal) To cover someone's house with toilet paper. Otherwise known as toilet papering or TPing.
•
To document; to memorialize.
- After they reached an agreement, their staffs papered it up.
To enfold in paper.
•
To fill (a theatre or other paid event) with complimentary seats.
- Later, seat-filling or “papering” services cropped up, with organizations like Audience Extras, Play-by-Play,[…] — 2020
•
To submit official papers to (a law court, etc.).
- […] the warning received only six weeks later for poor attendance as proof that the employer was unjustly papering his personnel file in an effort to create a reason for discharge. — 2007
To sandpaper.
To give public notice (typically by displaying posters) that a person is wanted by the police or other authority.

adjective4

Made of paper.
•
Insubstantial (from the weakness of common paper).
- It concluded that Australia was “not even a paper tiger, it’s only a paper cat at best” — 2016
Having a title that is merely official, or given by courtesy or convention.
•
Planned (from plans being drawn up on paper).
- "We have to be able to demonstrate that it is not just a paper engine but a real engine" and that development work has "mitigated all the risk". — 2025

forms

papered · papering · papers

Phrases with paper

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