paper

noun

• 1 [mass noun] material manufactured in thin sheets from the pulp of wood or other fibrous substances, used for writing, drawing, or printing on, or as wrapping material:a sheet of paper [as modifier]:a paper napkin [count noun]:toffee papers
• wallpaper: the walls were damp—paper hung away in long strips

• 2 (usually papers) a sheet of paper with something written or printed on it:he riffled through the papers on his desk
• a newspaper: the story made the front page of the local paper
• (papers) personal documents: the personal papers of major political figures
• (papers) documents attesting identity; credentials:two men stopped us and asked us for our papers
• a government report or policy document:a recently leaked cabinet paper
• [as modifier] denoting something that is officially documented but has no real existence:a paper profit

• 3British a set of examination questions to be answered at one session:we had to sit a three-hour paper
• the written answers to examination questions: you need to test your students, mark their papers, and place them in the right class

• 4an essay or dissertation, especially one read at an academic lecture or seminar or published in an academic journal: he published a highly original paper on pattern formation

• 5 [mass noun] theatrical slang free passes of admission to a theatre or other entertainment.

verb

• 1apply wallpaper to (a wall or room):the walls were papered in a Regency stripe
• (paper something over) cover a hole or blemish with wallpaper: interior panels can be of fairly basic wood that will be papered over
• (paper something over) disguise an awkward problem instead of resolving it:the unions tried to paper over their differences

• 2 theatrical slang fill (a theatre) by giving out free tickets: surely the theatre could at least have papered the house if the box office was looking so poor