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What Word Means Paper Used for Writing Letters

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This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.

This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.


noun

a substance made from wood pulp, rags, straw, or other fibrous material, usually in thin sheets, used to bear writing or printing, for wrapping things, etc.

a piece, sheet, or leaf of this.

something resembling this substance, as papyrus.

a written or printed document or the like.

stationery; writing paper.

a newspaper or journal.

an essay, article, or dissertation on a particular topic: a paper on early Mayan artifacts.

Often papers. a document establishing or verifying identity, status, or the like: citizenship papers.

negotiable notes, bills, etc., as commercial paper or paper money: Only silver, please, no paper.

a promissory note.

a sheet or card of paper with pins or needles stuck through it in rows.

a set of questions for an examination, an individual set of written answers to them, or any written piece of schoolwork.

Slang. a free pass to an entertainment.

verb (used with object)

to cover with wallpaper or apply wallpaper to: They papered the bedroom last summer.

to line or cover with paper.

to distribute handbills, posters, etc., throughout: to paper a neighborhood with campaign literature.

to fold, enclose, or wrap in paper.

to supply with paper.

Informal. to deluge with documents, especially those requiring one to comply with certain technical procedures, as a means of legal harassment: He papered the plaintiff to force a settlement.

Slang. to fill (a theater or the like) with spectators by giving away free tickets or passes.

Archaic.

  1. to write or set down on paper.
  2. to describe in writing.

verb (used without object)

adjective

made of paper or paperlike material: a paper bag.

paperlike; thin, flimsy, or frail.

of, relating to, or noting routine clerical duties.

pertaining to or carried on by means of letters, articles, books, etc.: a paper war.

written or printed on paper.

existing in theory or principle only and not in reality: paper profits.

indicating the first event of a series, as a wedding anniversary.

Slang. including many patrons admitted on free passes, as an audience for a theatrical performance: It's a paper house tonight.

Verb Phrases

paper over, to patch up or attempt to conceal (a difference, disagreement, etc.) so as to preserve a friendship, present a unified opinion, etc.: to paper over a dispute.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Which of the following words describes "sky blue"?

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Idioms about paper

    on paper,

    1. in written or printed form.
    2. in theory rather than in practice.
    3. existing only in a preliminary state; in a plan or design: The university building program is still only on paper.

Origin of paper

1325–75; Middle English papire<Latin papȳruspapyrus

OTHER WORDS FROM paper

pa·per·less, adjective pa·per·like, adjective re·pa·per, verb (used with object) un·pa·pered, adjective

Words nearby paper

papaw, papaya, Papeete, papelera, Papen, paper, paperback, paperbark, paperbark maple, paper birch, paperboard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use paper in a sentence

  • Depending on where you live, you might vote on a screen, a punchcard, or a piece of paper.

  • I began looking at Metrc, and I was very surprised to find that growers were writing down barcodes on paper.

  • They must acquire large volumes of specialized envelopes and paper.

  • When I co-authored that paper, I didn't think that this could happen.

  • His paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the next year went further by showing that epigenetic changes are responsible for this training.

  • Back when Sam went upstate, job searches required nothing more than a typewriter, some paper, and the classifieds.

  • "We would just as soon stay away from a group that will create controversy," the Cubs general manager Sam Bernabe told the paper.

  • The reality TV mogul bared her butt—and everything else, too—for Paper Magazine in a spread that sent Twitter into a tizzy.

  • Fold the parchment paper with the dry ingredients in half and pour into the stand mixer.

  • Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on parchment or wax paper.

  • Even as they gazed they saw its roof caught up, and whirled off as if it had been a scroll of paper.

  • A small book, bound in full purple calf, lay half hidden in a nest of fine tissue paper on the dressing-table.

  • Bits of paper blew aimlessly about, wafted by a little, feverish breeze, which rose in spasms and died away.

  • The Spaniards since have substituted paper for the leaves of maize, in imitation of them.

  • "Buy something for your wife that-is-to-be," he said to his grand-nephew, as he handed him the folded paper.

British Dictionary definitions for paper


noun

a substance made from cellulose fibres derived from rags, wood, etc, often with other additives, and formed into flat thin sheets suitable for writing on, decorating walls, wrapping, etc Related adjective: papyraceous

a single piece of such material, esp if written or printed on

(usually plural) documents for establishing the identity of the bearer; credentials

Also called: ship's papers (plural) official documents relating to the ownership, cargo, etc, of a ship

(plural) collected diaries, letters, etc

a lecture or short published treatise on a specific subject

a short essay, as by a student

  1. a set of written examination questions
  2. the student's answers

theatre slang a free ticket

on paper in theory, as opposed to fact it was a good idea on paper, but failed in practice

adjective

made of paper paper cups do not last long

thin like paper paper walls

(prenominal) existing only as recorded on paper but not yet in practice paper profits; paper expenditure

taking place in writing paper battles

verb

to cover (walls) with wallpaper

(tr) to cover or furnish with paper

(tr) theatre slang to fill (a performance) by giving away free tickets (esp in the phrase paper the house)

Derived forms of paper

paperer, noun

Word Origin for paper

C14: from Latin papyrus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with paper


In addition to the idiom beginning with paper

  • paper over

also see:

  • on paper
  • push paper
  • walking papers

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

What Word Means Paper Used for Writing Letters

Source: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/paper