paper
/ˈpeɪ̯.pəɹ/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.07 in modern English
Meaning
noun
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.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Ellipsis of newspaper; anything used as such (such as a newsletter or listing magazine).
Countable; Uncountable
noun
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.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A written document, generally shorter than a book; usually written as a school assignment or a government report.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
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).
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A set of examination questions to be answered at one session.
British usage; Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own."
- "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]."
- ""I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal.[…].""
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: paper, papier, papȳrus, πάπυρος
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpeɪ̯.pəɹ/
- British English: /ˈpeɪ̯.pə/
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- British usage
- Slang
- New Zealand usage
- Dated
- Transitive verb
- American usage