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Showing results for paper trail. Search instead for paper+trail.
Synonyms

paper trail

American  

noun

  1. a written or printed record, as of transactions or judicial opinions, especially when used to incriminate someone.

Etymology

Origin of paper trail

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For one, he doesn’t have the provocative paper trail that Dhillon has.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026

There is, of course, a rich paper trail, and the author made avid use of the Sanders mayoral archives at the University of Vermont.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

With no paper trail from a hospital birth, none of the trio will ever be able to trace their mother.

From Barron's • Jan. 14, 2026

That way, if the item “ends up being stolen and the cops show up at your door, you have a paper trail showing you did your due diligence and are not liable,” Ross said.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 21, 2025

A paper trail to a Chickasaw great-grandfather none of them had ever known was a path into a past she’d spent her whole life escaping.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.