carbon paper
2
2.7
- noun
- /ˈkɑrbən ˈpeɪpər/
- Archaic
:
papel carbón
- She sat down at her desk, sandwiched carbon paper between two fresh sheets of mimeo bond, and rolled them into the typewriter.
- a piece of carbon paper
Examples
-
Daddy spreads out the towels until they cover the whole table, arranges the stacks around me, and puts the carbon paper on my right.
Fiction book (2002) -
However, it looks like you didn't think to deal with the carbon paper itself.
-
I didn't even know where she kept the carbon paper.
Fiction book (1995) -
There's carbon paper in the middle drawer, if you want to make duplicates.
-
When I see a typewriter, I can imagine a young secretary taking dictation and typing with carbon paper.
Blog text (9) -
Doc Connell, or Miss Presson, would write my father's name on the pad with carbon paper, write "money" on the first line and "$1.00" beside "total."
Fiction book (1991) -
I found a sheet of carbon paper in my desk, perfect for making copies of my notes.
-
If you place the carbon paper between the two pages, you can easily create a duplicate of your document.
-
She used carbon paper to ensure everyone received a copy of the important report.
Synonyms
15
6.6
A thin waxed sheet placed between papers to make copies
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase names a type of paper, so its meaning is compositionally derived from 'carbon' (indicating a dark/coating or association with carbon copies) + 'paper' (a sheet used for writing). A B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably infer it refers to paper treated or used with carbon for making copies; this is a standard modifier+noun composition found cross-linguistically.
Etymology
Carbon paper comes from a thin paper covered with a dark, waxy layer like carbon that was put between two pages. When someone wrote or typed on the top page, the dark layer left a 'copy' on the page below, so the name now means a sheet used to make a copy.