paper
noun
uk/ˈpeɪpər/ us [ U ]
thin, flat material used for writing, printing, or drawing on:
There was a huge stack of papers on her desk.
a sheet/piece of paper Someone had printed the memo on yellow sheets of paper and posted it around the office.
The paper industry recovery of the last year shows little sign of slowing down.
[ C ]
a newspaper, or the company that owns and operates a newspaper:
Murdoch has made an offer to buy the paper.
in the papers There was nothing about the trial in the papers this morning.
an article in Hong Kong's leading financial paper
a daily/weekly paper
a local/national paper
[ U ] FINANCE (also financial paper)
assets in the form of bonds, shares, etc., as opposed to cash:
The rise in share prices encourages bidders to issue their own paper.
The system failed because people realized that the securitized financial paper was not worth the top rating it had received.
papers
[ plural ]
official documents that show who you are:
The company was fined for hiring over a hundred immigrants without papers.
LAW, GOVERNMENT
an official government or legal document:
Lawyers argued in papers submitted last month that lower courts were wrong to dismiss the lawsuit.
The committee issued a paper stating that further information and analysis was required.
[ C ]
a piece of writing on a particular subject, written by an expert and usually published in a book or journal:
The paper recommends a series of steps for dealing with the problem.
on paper
written or printed on paper:
The engineers worked out their ideas on paper.
used to say that although an idea seems good when you think of it, it may not be so good when you try to use it:
It's a good plan on paper, but will it really work?
See also
bearer paper
commercial paper
fine paper
trade paper
white paper
working paper