PAPER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does paper mean? 

• PAPER (noun)
  The noun PAPER has 7 senses:

1. a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses

2. an essay (especially one written as an assignment)

3. a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements

4. a medium for written communication

5. a scholarly article describing the results of observations or stating hypotheses

6. a business firm that publishes newspapers

7. the physical object that is the product of a newspaper publisher

  Familiarity information: PAPER used as a noun is common.

• PAPER (verb)
  The verb PAPER has 2 senses:

1. cover with paper

2. cover with wallpaper

  Familiarity information: PAPER used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PAPER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("paper" is a kind of...):

material; stuff (the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object)

Meronyms (substance of "paper"):

cellulose (a polysaccharide that is the chief constituent of all plant tissues and fibers)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "paper"):

parchment (a superior paper resembling sheepskin)

music paper; score paper (paper with lines appropriate for writing music)

papyrus (paper made from the papyrus plant by cutting it in strips and pressing it flat; used by ancient Egyptians and Greeks and Romans)

paper-mache; papier-mache (a substance made from paper pulp that can be molded when wet and painted when dry)

paper toweling (absorbent paper used as toweling)

paper tape (a long narrow strip of paper)

pad; pad of paper; tablet (a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge)

india paper (a thin tough opaque paper used in fine books)

oilpaper (paper that has been made translucent and waterproof by soaking in oil)

newspaper; newsprint (cheap paper made from wood pulp and used for printing newspapers)

writing paper (paper material made into thin sheets that are sized to take ink; used for writing correspondence and manuscripts)

rice paper (a thin delicate material resembling paper; made from the rice-paper tree)

roofing paper; tar paper (a heavy paper impregnated with tar and used as part of a roof for waterproofing)

ticker tape (a continuous thin ribbon of paper on which stock quotes are written)

tissue; tissue paper (a soft thin (usually translucent) paper)

tracing paper (a semitransparent paper that is used for tracing drawings)

transfer paper (a paper that is coated with a preparation for transferring a design to another surface)

wallpaper (a decorative paper for the walls of rooms)

waste paper (paper discarded after use)

wax paper (paper that has been waterproofed by treatment with wax or paraffin)

wrapping paper (a tough paper used for wrapping)

computer paper (paper folded to permit continuous printing controlled by a computer)

card (one of a set of small pieces of stiff paper marked in various ways and used for playing games or for telling fortunes)

confetti (small pieces or streamers of colored paper that are thrown around on festive occasions (as at a wedding))

piece of paper; sheet; sheet of paper (paper used for writing or printing)

art paper (a high-quality paper (usually having a filler of china clay))

blotter; blotting paper (absorbent paper used to dry ink)

blueprint paper (sensitized paper used to make blueprints)

carbon; carbon paper (a thin paper coated on one side with a dark waxy substance (often containing carbon); used to transfer characters from the original to an under sheet of paper)

cardboard; composition board (a stiff moderately thick paper)

cartridge paper (paper for making cartridge cases)

chad (a small piece of paper that is supposed to be removed when a hole is punched in a card or paper tape)

manila; manila paper; manilla; manilla paper (a strong paper or thin cardboard with a smooth light brown finish made from e.g. Manila hemp)

construction paper (paper suitable for drawing and making cutouts)

crepe; crepe paper (paper with a crinkled texture; usually colored and used for decorations)

drawing paper (paper that is specially prepared for use in drafting)

filter paper (a porous unsized paper used for filtering)

flypaper (paper that is poisoned or coated with a sticky substance to kill flies)

graph paper (paper that has lines to permit drawing graphs)

greaseproof paper (paper that is impermeable to oil or grease; used in cooking)

linen; linen paper (a high-quality paper made of linen fibers or with a linen finish)

litmus paper (unsized paper treated with litmus for use as an acid-base indicator)

manifold; manifold paper (a lightweight paper used with carbon paper to make multiple copies)

Derivation:

paper (cover with wallpaper)

paper (cover with paper)

papery (thin and paperlike)

papery (of or like paper)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An essay (especially one written as an assignment)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

composition; paper; report; theme

Context example:

he got an A on his composition

Hypernyms ("paper" is a kind of...):

essay (an analytic or interpretive literary composition)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "paper"):

term paper (a composition intended to indicate a student's progress during a school term)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

newspaper; paper

Context example:

he read his newspaper at breakfast

Hypernyms ("paper" is a kind of...):

press; public press (the print media responsible for gathering and publishing news in the form of newspapers or magazines)

Meronyms (parts of "paper"):

rotogravure (printed material (text and pictures) produced by an intaglio printing process in a rotary press)

column; editorial; newspaper column (an article giving opinions or perspectives)

feature; feature article (a special or prominent article in a newspaper or magazine)

news article; news story; newspaper article (an article reporting news)

headline; newspaper headline (the heading or caption of a newspaper article)

sports section (the section of a newspaper that reports on sports)

news item (an item in a newspaper)

cartoon strip; comic strip; funnies; strip (a sequence of drawings telling a story in a newspaper or comic book)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "paper"):

daily (a newspaper that is published every day)

gazette (a newspaper or official journal)

school newspaper; school paper (a newspaper written and published by students in a school)

rag; sheet; tabloid (newspaper with half-size pages)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A medium for written communication

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

the notion of an office running without paper is absurd

Hypernyms ("paper" is a kind of...):

medium (a means or instrumentality for storing or communicating information)

Holonyms ("paper" is a substance of...):

page (one side of one leaf (of a book or magazine or newspaper or letter etc.) or the written or pictorial matter it contains)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A scholarly article describing the results of observations or stating hypotheses

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

he has written many scientific papers

Hypernyms ("paper" is a kind of...):

article (nonfictional prose forming an independent part of a publication)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A business firm that publishes newspapers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

newspaper; newspaper publisher; paper

Context example:

Murdoch owns many newspapers

Hypernyms ("paper" is a kind of...):

publisher; publishing company; publishing firm; publishing house (a firm in the publishing business)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The physical object that is the product of a newspaper publisher

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

newspaper; paper

Context example:

when it began to rain he covered his head with a newspaper

Hypernyms ("paper" is a kind of...):

product; production (an artifact that has been created by someone or some process)

• PAPER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they paper    ... he / she / it papers   
Past simple: papered   
Past participle: papered   
-ing form: papering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cover with paper

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

paper the box

Hypernyms (to "paper" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

paper (a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cover with wallpaper

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

paper; wallpaper

Hypernyms (to "paper" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

paper (a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses)

paperer (one whose occupation is decorating walls with wallpaper)

papering (the application of wallpaper)

 Context examples 

We were working over him, however, when he signed for paper and pencil.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Brown paper, with a distinct smell of coffee.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The next day it came out in the evening papers that Private Miles, of the Coldstream Guards, on duty outside Marlborough House, had deserted his post without leave, and was therefore courtmartialed.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Functional Activities Questionnaire-NACC Version (FAQ-NACC Version) Assembling tax records, business affairs, or papers.

(FAQ-NACC Version - Assemble, NCI Thesaurus)

A gas or a liquid is used to pass the mixture through a column, paper, or special plate that contains absorbing materials.

(Chromatography, NCI Dictionary)

"There, now I'll take off the papers and you'll see a cloud of little ringlets," said Jo, putting down the tongs.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

So he took the papers with him and went away, and I sit here thinking—thinking I don't know what.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A small book, often having a paper cover.

(Booklet, NCI Thesaurus)

I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was written.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This substance is used in printing inks, paints and to color vinyl, rubber and paper.

(Lead Chromate, NCI Thesaurus)