Idioms for paper

    on paper,
    1. in written or printed form.
    2. in theory rather than in practice.
    3. existing only in a preliminary state; in a plan or design: The university building program is still only on paper.

Origin of paper

1325–75; Middle English papire < Latin papȳrus papyrus

OTHER WORDS FROM paper

pa·per·less, adjective pa·per·like, adjective re·pa·per, verb (used with object) un·pa·pered, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for paper over (1 of 2)

paper over

verb

(tr, adverb) to conceal (something controversial or unpleasant)

British Dictionary definitions for paper over (2 of 2)

paper
/ (ˈpeɪpə) /

noun

adjective

verb

See also paper over

Derived forms of paper

paperer, noun

Word Origin for paper

C14: from Latin papyrus

Idioms and Phrases with paper over (1 of 2)

paper over

Also, paper over the cracks. Repair superficially, conceal, especially flaws. For example, He used some accounting gimmicks to paper over a deficit, or It was hardly a perfect settlement, but they decided to paper over the cracks. The German statesman Otto von Bismarck first used this analogy in a letter in 1865, and the first recorded example in English, in 1910, referred to it. The allusion is to covering cracked plaster with wallpaper, thereby improving its appearance but not the underlying defect.

Idioms and Phrases with paper over (2 of 2)

paper