paper-work

A form of paperwork — Routine work involving written documents.

Meanings

nounpaper-work (countable and uncountable, plural paper-works)

plural paper-works

  1. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative form of paperwork.

    Many teachers are wondering if the experience of working in South Korea will be worth the burden of the paper-work and increasing restrictions.

    2007 December 14, James Card, “Proof of character demanded before entry”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Oct 2014
    3 more examples

    Obſérve you not, what fooliſh Propheſies / VVe take up? how, of Fictions and of Lies / VVe make us Refuges, as heretofore / They did, whoſe Paper-Works, we down have tore?

    1659, George Wither, Salt upon Salt: Made Out of Certain Ingenious Verses upon the Late Storm and the Death of His Highness Ensuing. […], London: […] L[ivewell] Chapman, […], →OCLC, page 45; republished in Miscellaneous Works of George Wither, fourth collection, [London]: […] [F]or the Spenser Society [by] Charles Simms and Co., […], 1875, →OCLC

    She arranges work schedules, takes care of endless paper-work and cruises the freeways more to provide support for her officers than to make arrests.

    1986 May 12, John Dreyfuss, “Printer: The Line Below Goes Under the Logo. […]”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Jul 2025

    ‘[…] I am in fact so exceedingly out of temper that I can scarcely command my mind and keep it steady to its paper-work,’ said Jack, and Stephen, with a sinking heart, saw that he was if anything understating the case.

    1991, Patrick O’Brian, chapter 10, in The Nutmeg of Consolation (Aubrey-Maturin; 14), London: HarperCollinsPublishers, published 1993, →ISBN, page 285
Cite this entry
APA

paper-work. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paper-work

MLA

“paper-work.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paper-work. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paper-work,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paper-work.

Source: paper-work on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.