paper

—paperless, adj. —paperlike, adj.

/pay"peuhr/, n.

1. a substance made from wood pulp, rags, straw, or other fibrous material, usually in thin sheets, used to bear writing or printing, for wrapping things, etc.

2. a piece, sheet, or leaf of this.

3. something resembling this substance, as papyrus.

4. a written or printed document or the like.

5. stationery; writing paper.

6. a newspaper or journal.

7. an essay, article, or dissertation on a particular topic: a paper on early Mayan artifacts.

8. Often, papers. a document establishing or verifying identity, status, or the like: citizenship papers.

9. negotiable notes, bills, etc., as commercial paper or paper money: Only silver, please, no paper.

10. a promissory note.

11. papers, a. Naut. See ship's papers. b. See rolling paper.

12. wallpaper.

13. See toilet paper.

14. a sheet or card of paper with pins or needles stuck through it in rows.

15. a set of questions for an examination, an individual set of written answers to them, or any written piece of schoolwork.

16. Slang. a free pass to an entertainment.

17. on paper,

a. in written or printed form.

b. in theory rather than in practice.

c. existing only in a preliminary state; in a plan or design: The university building program is still only on paper.

v.t.

18. to cover with wallpaper or apply wallpaper to: They papered the bedroom last summer.

19. to line or cover with paper.

20. to distribute handbills, posters, etc., throughout: to paper a neighborhood with campaign literature.

21. to fold, enclose, or wrap in paper.

22. to supply with paper.

23. Informal. to deluge with documents, esp. those requiring one to comply with certain technical procedures, as a means of legal harassment: He papered the plaintiff to force a settlement.

24. Slang. to fill (a theater or the like) with spectators by giving away free tickets or passes.

25. Archaic. a. to write or set down on paper. b. to describe in writing.

v.i.

26. to apply wallpaper to walls.

27. paper over, to patch up or attempt to conceal (a difference, disagreement, etc.) so as to preserve a friendship, present a unified opinion, etc.: to paper over a dispute.

adj.

28. made of paper or paperlike material: a paper bag.

29. paperlike; thin, flimsy, or frail.

30. of, pertaining to, or noting routine clerical duties.

31. pertaining to or carried on by means of letters, articles, books, etc.: a paper war.

32. written or printed on paper.

33. existing in theory or principle only and not in reality: paper profits.

34. indicating the first event of a series, as a wedding anniversary. See table under wedding anniversary.

35. Slang. including many patrons admitted on free passes, as an audience for a theatrical performance: It's a paper house tonight.

[1325-75; ME papire < L papyrus PAPYRUS]

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I

Matted or felted sheet, usually made of cellulose fibres, formed on a wire screen from water suspension.

Source materials include wood pulp, rags, and recycled paper. The fibres are separated (by processes that may be mechanical, chemical, or both) and wetted to produce paper pulp, or stock. The pulp is filtered on a woven screen to form a sheet of fibre, which is pressed and compacted to squeeze out most of the water. The remaining water is removed by evaporation, and the dry sheet is further compressed and often (depending on the intended use) coated or infused with other substances. Types of paper in common use include bond paper, book paper, bristol (or bristol board), groundwood and newsprint, kraft paper, paperboard, and sanitary paper (for towels, napkins, etc.). See also calendering; Fourdrinier machine; kraft process.

II

(as used in expressions)

paper birch

paper chromatography

paper folding

Federalist papers

Pentagon Papers

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 matted or felted sheet, usually made of cellulose fibres, formed on a wire screen from water suspension.

      A brief treatment of paper follows. For full treatment, see papermaking.

      Paper has been traced to China in about AD 105. It reached Central Asia by 751 and Baghdad by 793, and by the 14th century there were paper mills in several parts of Europe. The invention of the printing press in about 1450 greatly increased the demand for paper, and at the beginning of the 19th century wood and other vegetable pulps began to replace rags as the principal source of fibre for papermaking.

      Before 1798, Nicholas-Louis Robert (Robert, Nicolas-Louis) constructed the first paper-making machine. Using a moving screen belt, paper was made one sheet at a time by dipping a frame or mold with a screen bottom into a vat of pulp. A few years later the brothers Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier improved Robert's machine, and in 1809 John Dickinson invented the first cylinder machine.

      Although almost all steps in papermaking have become highly mechanized, the basic process has remained essentially unchanged. First, the fibres are separated and wetted to produce the paper pulp, or stock. The pulp is then filtered on a woven screen to form a sheet of fibre, which is pressed and compacted to squeeze out most of the water. The remaining water is removed by evaporation, and the dry sheet is further compressed and, depending upon the intended use, coated or impregnated with other substances.

      Differences among the grades and types of paper are determined by several factors: the type of fibre used; the preparation of the pulp, either by mechanical (groundwood) or chemical (primarily sulfite, soda, or sulfate) methods, or by a combination of the two; by the addition of other materials to the pulp, among the most common being bleach or colouring and sizing, the latter to retard penetration by ink; by conditions under which the sheet is formed, including its weight; and by the physical or chemical treatments applied to the finished sheet.

      Although wood has become the major source of fibre for papermaking, rag fibres are still used for paper of maximum strength, durability, and permanence. Recycled wastepaper (including newsprint) and paperboard are also important sources. Other fibres used include straw, bagasse (residue from crushed sugarcane), esparto, bamboo, flax, hemp, jute, and kenaf. Some paper, particularly specialty items, is made from synthetic fibres.

      Weight or substance per unit area, called basis weight, is measured in reams (now commonly 500 sheets). Paper is also measured by caliper (thickness) and density. The strength and durability of paper is determined by factors such as the strength and length of the fibres, as well as their bonding ability, and the formation and structure of the sheet. The optical properties of paper include its brightness, colour, opacity, and gloss. Among the most important paper grades are bond, book, bristol, groundwood and newsprint, kraft, paperboard, and sanitary.

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