English Explanatory Dictionary

paper

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A sheet material typically used for writing on or printing on (or as a non-waterproof container), usually made by draining cellulose fibres from a suspension in water.
  2. Ellipsis of newspaper; anything used as such (such as a newsletter or listing magazine).
  3. Ellipsis of wallpaper.
  4. Ellipsis of wrapping paper.
  5. 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.
  6. A written document, generally shorter than a book; usually written as a school assignment or a government report.
  7. 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).
  8. A set of examination questions to be answered at one session.
  9. Money.
  10. Any financial assets other than specie, including paper money, commercial paper, and others.
  11. A university course.
  12. A paper packet containing a quantity of items.
adj
  1. Made of paper.
  2. Insubstantial (from the weakness of common paper)
  3. Planned (from plans being drawn up on paper)
  4. Having a title that is merely official, or given by courtesy or convention.
verb
  1. To apply paper to.
  2. To document; to memorialize.
  3. To fill (a theatre or other paid event) with complimentary seats.
  4. To submit official papers to (a law court, etc.).
  5. To give public notice (typically by displaying posters) that a person is wanted by the police or other authority.
  6. To sandpaper.
  7. To enfold in paper.
  8. To paste the endpapers and flyleaves at the beginning and end of a book before fitting it into its covers.
  9. To cover someone's house with toilet paper. Otherwise known as toilet papering or TPing.

Pronunciation

pā′pər /ˈpeɪ̯.pə/ En-uk-paper.ogg /ˈpeɪ̯.pəɹ/ [ˈpʰeɪ̯.pɚ] en-us-paper.ogg /ˈpæɪ̯.pə/ /ˈpe.pəɹ/ /ˈpeː.pə(ɾ)/ /ˈpɛj.pə(ɾ)/ [ˈpeɪ̯.pə(r)]

Word forms

paper papers papering papered

Etymology

From Middle English paper, from Anglo-Norman paper, from Old Catalan paper, borrowed from Latin papȳrus (and given the Catalan suffix -er), from Ancient Greek πάπυρος (pápuros).

Synonyms

paper the house

Related words

papier-mâché papirosa papyrus paper over

Derived words

abrasive paper absorbent paper accommodation paper alpha paper aluminium paper artpaper art paper asthma paper bakery paper bakery release paper baking paper ballot paper banana paper bank paper blotting paper bog paper bond paper Bristol paper bromide paper brown paper brown paper bag party brown paper bag test brown rosin paper buckypaper building paper busy as a one-armed paper hanger butcher paper butcher's paper butchers' paper butter paper carbonic paper carbonless copy paper carbon paper cartridge paper case papers ceiling paper chattel paper cheese paper Chinese paper chromatography paper cigarette paper coated paper colombier paper command paper commercial paper construction paper correction paper crepe paper crêpe paper curlpaper curl-paper daily paper digital paper distinctive paper electronic paper elephant paper emery paper enamel paper enfaced paper e-paper
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