graph paper

American  

noun

1. paper printed with a pattern of straight or curved lines, especially a grid of small squares, for plotting or drawing graphs and curves.

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graph paper British  

noun

1. paper printed with intersecting lines, usually horizontal and vertical and equally spaced, for drawing graphs, diagrams, etc

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Etymology

Origin of graph paper

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

The fear that using AI will “rot the human brain” is akin to the initial reluctance to allow graphing calculators in math classes, with teachers preferring graph paper instead.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 6, 2026

In the steepest increase, the prices of the average package of graph paper listed on Amazon jumped from $9.37 last year to $11.69 this year.

From Washington Times • Jul. 20, 2023

Before he installed the plants, he applied for a turf removal rebate from the city by scanning a sheet of graph paper into his computer and using Photoshop.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 19, 2023

There might even be graph paper or a spreadsheet.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 17, 2023

He tacked up a piece of cross-section graph paper, which was a thousand lines long and a thousand lines wide, and thus contained exactly a million little squares.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey