piece of paper
180
1.0
- noun
- /piːs əv ˈpeɪpər/
:
hoja de papel
- Yet Maastricht, like Philadelphia, was only a piece of paper, a set of written rules.
- write on a piece of paper
- draw on a piece of paper
- a small piece of paper
I signed a piece of paper that says that's the law.
- I signed a piece of paper that says that's the law.
- So if we take a piece of paper, we make a straight crease.
- You just can't take a piece of paper and stick it on a wall.
- I loved that side of it, that that blank piece of paper was a my worst fear.
- And imagine a, a, a piece of paper tumbling in the wind.
- I have this piece of paper right above my bed. So
- You've got this word on the piece of paper on the one side.
- There's a giant piece of paper with a paper clip on it, that thing.
- They're two different pieces of paper symbolizing two different states.
- Grab a book, sit down, get a pencil, get a piece of paper and start doing math.
- You lost it because you gave them money for this piece of paper, right?
Examples
-
Before leaving my office, Adam will take the piece of paper with the phone number on it.
Academic text (2011) -
Let me get a piece of paper and pen.
-
Is that the only piece of paper there?
-
A little white piece of paper and look at that.
-
You lost it because you gave them money for this piece of paper, right?
-
You may keep your pieces of paper as a little memory.
-
Jonathan, I need you to take out a piece of paper or your phone.
-
There's a piece of paper on top of the pile.
-
The respondent is given a blank piece of paper and is asked to map a given environment.
Academic text (1997) -
Please take this piece of paper and write down your address.
Synonyms
248
1.0
A single piece of paper used for writing or printing
100
1.6
A small paper used for a form or receipt
26
1.0
A single flat piece of paper used for writing or printing
10
1.1
A small thin piece of paper for notes or receipts
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a single sheet of paper' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'piece' (a portion) with 'paper' using the common English partitive pattern 'piece of X'; the preposition 'of' simply links the noun constituents. This compositional structure is cross-linguistically common and follows straightforward semantics, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily understand it.
Etymology
Piece of paper comes from a simple image: cutting or tearing a small piece from a larger paper sheet. That's why a piece of paper literally means 'a single sheet of paper' you can write or print on.