First recorded in 1945–50; apparently so called from the color of the paper on which they are printed
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The DWP said the future of Access to Work had been consulted on as part of the Pathways to Work Green Paper and it was "currently considering" its response to it.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026
The government was adamant that its "welfare reform" changes - announced in March's Green Paper - were designed to get people back to work.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025
The full scale of the cuts won't be set out until the Spring Statement, while Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall will give a major speech next week and publish a "Green Paper".
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2025
On Wednesday, the government published a new Construction Products Reform Green Paper setting out possible penalties for companies found to have breached safety obligations.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2025
That office promulgated first a Green Paper and then, after further hearings, a White Paper, on "Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure."
From The Public Domain Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by Boyle, James
Huang speculates that might be because a green paper may appear in multiple repositories—institutional and discipline-based—whereas gold papers tend to appear in only one, the publishers’ website.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 24, 2024
Trees and shrubbery made from green paper littered the rig, particularly on the helipad, where a farm thrived under a transparent cellophane biodome.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2023
The Welsh government is consulting on the issue as part of a wider "green paper" on housing, looking at how ministers can help both landlords and tenants.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2023
People write their hopes on green paper leaves.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 19, 2022
She pouted and took a tray, a pale green paper napkin, and a spoon.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
