paper clip
noun
a flat wire or plastic clip shaped so that it can hold sheets of paper between two of its loops.
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paper clip
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paper-clip
paper-clipverb (used with object)to fasten together with one or more paper clips.
paper clip
1 Americannoun
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paper clips
plural
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a flat wire or plastic clip shaped so that it can hold sheets of paper between two of its loops.
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a spring clamp for holding papers.
paper-clip
2
American
[pay-per-klip]
/ ˈpeɪ pərˈklɪp /
verb (used with object)
paper-clipped,
paper-clipping
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of paper clip1
First recorded in 1870–75
Origin of paper-clip2
First recorded in 1960–65
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Even a tiny magnet can lift a paper clip against the pull of Earth's entire gravitational field.
From Science Daily ● May 18, 2026
Channeling the fictional 1980s secret agent MacGyver, he unwound the paper clip and stuck it in his TV’s coaxial port to get a signal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025
After a few weeks, Webb had read it and stuck a paper clip — about 500 in all — over every passage that might offend the higher-ups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2025
“And who doesn’t take notes on a checkbook or use a paper clip to hold his glasses together?”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 17, 2023
Then, half a paper clip just popped out of the kid’s neck.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Result: whiffs of the paper-clip maximizer, an ancient AI thought experiment in which a computer ends up consuming all planetary resources pursuant to its instruction to make paper clips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
It was his second victory on the 0.526-mile, paper-clip shaped oval.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2024
It takes ingenuity to glean guffaws from paper-clip holders, an overhead projector, a birthday cake and a chamber orchestra of office stamps and staplers.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 10, 2011
Nine broad missions were defined, such as strategic forces and general-purpose forces, and the Army, Navy and Air Force departments were compelled to integrate their efforts whether the activity was nuclear targeting or paper-clip purchases.
From Time Magazine Archive
“He’s probably that guy Russell who makes the paper-clip necklaces!”
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
He also showed Smith a paper-clipped charred stack of paper currency that had faint signatures of U.S. money.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 10, 2018
Time passed, and occasionally an internal envelope would arrive with a printed report from Tony and a screen-shot paper-clipped to it.
From Nature ● Dec. 30, 2014
In a late-May interview with Politico, Timothy Geithner held up a pocket Constitution with one page paper-clipped.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2011
The drawer next to the stove was where my mother kept leftover duck sauce, soy sauce, chopsticks, menus, tape, screwdrivers, but most importantly, all her coupons, organized and paper-clipped by product.
From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds
Evan moved these aside and found a ten-dollar bill paper-clipped to a birthday card.
From "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies
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