Pa·per n.
 1. A substance in the form of thin sheets or leaves intended to be written or printed on, or to be used in wrapping.  It is made of rags, straw, bark, wood, or other fibrous material, which is first reduced to pulp, then molded, pressed, and dried.
 2. A sheet, leaf, or piece of such substance.
 3. A printed or written instrument; a document, essay, or the like; a writing; as, a paper read before a scientific society.
    They brought a paper to me to be signed.   --Dryden.
 4. A printed sheet appearing periodically; a newspaper; a journal; as, a daily paper.
 5. Negotiable evidences of indebtedness; notes; bills of exchange, and the like; as, the bank holds a large amount of his paper.
 6. Decorated hangings or coverings for walls, made of paper. See Paper hangings, below.
 7. A paper containing (usually) a definite quantity; as, a paper of pins, tacks, opium, etc.
 8. A medicinal preparation spread upon paper, intended for external application; as, cantharides paper.
 Note: ☞ Paper is manufactured in sheets, the trade names of which, together with the regular sizes in inches, are shown in the following table.  But paper makers vary the size somewhat.
 Note: In the manufacture of books, etc., a sheet, of whatever size originally, is termed, when folded once, a folio; folded twice, a quarto, or 4to; three times, an octavo, or 8vo; four times, a sextodecimo, or 16mo; five times, a 32mo; three times, with an offcut folded twice and set in, a duodecimo, or 12mo; four times, with an offcut folded three times and set in, a 24mo.
 Note: ☞ Paper is often used adjectively or in combination, having commonly an obvious signification; as, paper cutter or paper-cutter; paper knife, paper-knife, or paperknife; paper maker, paper-maker, or papermaker; paper mill or paper-mill; paper weight, paper-weight, or paperweight, etc.
 Business paper, checks, notes, drafts, etc., given in payment of actual indebtedness; -- opposed to accommodation paper.
 Fly paper, paper covered with a sticky preparation, -- used for catching flies.
 Laid paper. See under Laid.
 Paper birch Bot., the canoe birch tree (Betula papyracea).
 Paper blockade, an ineffective blockade, as by a weak naval force.
 Paper boat Naut., a boat made of water-proof paper.
 Paper car wheel Railroad, a car wheel having a steel tire, and a center formed of compressed paper held between two plate-iron disks. --Forney.
 Paper credit, credit founded upon evidences of debt, such as promissory notes, duebills, etc.
 Paper hanger, one who covers walls with paper hangings.
 Paper hangings, paper printed with colored figures, or otherwise made ornamental, prepared to be pasted against the walls of apartments, etc.; wall paper.
 Paper house, an audience composed of people who have come in on free passes. [Cant]
 Paper money, notes or bills, usually issued by government or by a banking corporation, promising payment of money, and circulated as the representative of coin.
 Paper mulberry. Bot. See under Mulberry.
 Paper muslin, glazed muslin, used for linings, etc.
 Paper nautilus. Zool. See Argonauta.
 Paper reed Bot., the papyrus.
 Paper sailor. Zool. See Argonauta.
 Paper stainer, one who colors or stamps wall paper. --De Colange.
 Paper wasp Zool., any wasp which makes a nest of paperlike material, as the yellow jacket.
 Paper weight, any object used as a weight to prevent loose papers from being displaced by wind, or otherwise.
 on paper. (a) in writing; as, I would like to see that on paper. (b) in theory, though not necessarily in paractice. (c) in the design state; planned, but not yet put into practice.
 Parchment paper. See Papyrine.
 Tissue paper, thin, gauzelike paper, such as is used to protect engravings in books.
 Wall paper. Same as Paper hangings, above.
 Waste paper, paper thrown aside as worthless or useless, except for uses of little account.
 Wove paper, a writing paper with a uniform surface, not ribbed or watermarked.
 paper tiger, a person or group that appears to be powerful and dangerous but is in fact weak and ineffectual.

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 Birch n.; pl. Birches
 1. A tree of several species, constituting the genus Betula; as, the white or common birch (Betula alba) (also called silver birch and lady birch); the dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa); the paper or canoe birch (Betula papyracea); the yellow birch (Betula lutea); the black or cherry birch (Betula lenta).
 2. The wood or timber of the birch.
 3. A birch twig or birch twigs, used for flogging.
 Note: ☞ The twigs of the common European birch (B. alba), being tough and slender, were formerly much used for rods in schools. They were also made into brooms.
    The threatening twigs of birch.   --Shak.
 4. A birch-bark canoe.
 Birch of Jamaica, a species (Bursera gummifera) of turpentine tree.
 Birch partridge. Zool. See Ruffed grouse.
 Birch wine, wine made of the spring sap of the birch.
 Oil of birch. (a) An oil obtained from the bark of the common European birch (Betula alba), and used in the preparation of genuine (and sometimes of the imitation) Russia leather, to which it gives its peculiar odor. (b) An oil prepared from the black birch (Betula lenta), said to be identical with the oil of wintergreen, for which it is largely sold.