paperweight

[ pey-per-weyt ]

noun

1. a small, heavy object of glass, metal, etc., placed on papers to keep them from scattering.

paperweight

/ ˈpeɪpəˌweɪt /

noun

1. a small heavy object placed on loose papers to prevent them from scattering

Word History and Origins

Origin of paperweight¹

First recorded in 1855–60; paper + weight

Example Sentences

I looked at my phone and it was just like, you know, a paperweight.

From MIT Technology Review

All of the work that comes with being an escort, and all of its attendant horrors, for this… paperweight?

From The Daily Beast

The physical Hookie is an etched glass paperweight in the shape of a brilliant-cut diamond.

From The Daily Beast

A paperweight that my mother gave me; it is made of dark blue glass and is in the shape of a heart.

From The Daily Beast

It was broad but not heavy; the fingers that opened and shut quietly on a small paperweight were supple.

From Project Gutenberg

Next to it were several sheets of blank paper and a small traveling clock sat on them as a paperweight.

From Project Gutenberg

Even an odd stone he had found on the desert and brought into the Wigwam one day, she used now as a paperweight.

From Project Gutenberg

Kerk picked up a length of steel pipe from the desk, that he used as a paperweight, and toyed with it as he thought.

From Project Gutenberg

A paperweight representing a ragged little dog and an entomological photograph of the common ant.

From Project Gutenberg