paper trail

plural paper trails · alternative paper-trail · alternative papertrail

1. idiomaticA written record, history, or collection of evidence.

   Keep a good paper trail in case anyone asks you why you arrived at that conclusion.

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   The only paper trail is the cashed money order, and unless it was cashed at a place where they actually know the payee (like the bank), the money order could have been stolen and cashed by someone else.

   2003, Marsha Collier, eBay Bargain Shopping For Dummies, page 109

2. idiomaticRecords left by a person or organization in the course of activities.

   With a good paperwork system in place, including a working paper trail, it becomes much easier to manage the flow of relevant information regarding your plants and orders.

   2003, Tony Avent, So You Want to Start a Nursery, page 265

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   And unless that paper trail exonerated you from guilt—or,if not that, supported some alternative explanation that granted you plausible deniability—then sooner or later you'd find yourself on the ass end of a federal indictment.

   2010, Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street

3. broadlyPhysical evidence of something that occurred in the past.

   Even if you delete posts or your digital paper trail, the data stills ^([sic]) exists and can be retrieved later in life.

   2016, Katherine Yaun, Etiquette at School, page 37

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   Beginning in the late 20th century, researchers were able to analyze the mtDNA and Y chromosomes of multiple races around the world, revealing a DNA paper trail that led back to eastern Africa around 200,000 years ago.

   2012, Paul Parsons, Science in 100 Key Breakthroughs