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.

Far from luxuriating in a serene and pristine writing environment, Ms. Lewin reveals, Woolf worked amid “old nibs, bits of string, used matches, rusty paper-clips, crumpled envelopes, broken cigarette-holders, etc.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

I note that 12 paper-clips are missing from the office inventory and that my papers had not been placed perpendicular to the inkwell on my desk.

From The Guardian • Jan. 6, 2013

On inheriting the family furniture business, honest Jack resolves to show zero tolerance to petty theft, whether it be fiddling expenses or pinching paper-clips.

From The Guardian • May 25, 2012

If this was flipped upside down, you could keep it on your desk and use it as a container for paper-clips and drawing pins.

From Scientific American • May 24, 2012

To the natives, it means any product of Terran technology, from paper-clips to spaceships.

From Oomphel in the Sky by Piper, H. Beam