paper trail

noun

1. a written or printed record, as of transactions or judicial opinions, especially when used to incriminate someone.

Word History and Origins

Origin of paper trail¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

He will seek and then pour over the paper trail, talk to Angela Rayner and attempt to establish a definitive timeline of what she did and when and who she spoke to and why.

From BBC

He covered up her murder by faking a goodbye note and then creating a paper trail that made it seem as if she was still alive.

From BBC

Second, an estimated 98% of American voters already cast ballots that leave a paper trail because that’s one way voting machines record votes.

From Los Angeles Times

But he lacked a paper trail, or a history with the conservative Federalist Society or Ronald Reagan’s Department of Justice, which served as proving grounds for the rising generation of Republican lawyers.

From Salon

Souter was said to have no “paper trail,” but Sununu privately assured activists that he would be a “home run for conservatives.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• argument 
• clue 
• confirmation 
• criterion 
• data 
• demonstration 
• information 
• picture 
• reason 
• testament 
• testimony 
• validation 
• verification