sandpaper
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
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(formerly) a strong paper coated with sand for smoothing and polishing
-
a common name for glasspaper
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sandpapersimple
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sandpaperssimple
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have sandpaperedperfect
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has sandpaperedperfect
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am sandpaperingprogressive
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are sandpaperingprogressive
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is sandpaperingprogressive
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have been sandpaperingperfect progressive
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has been sandpaperingperfect progressive
Past
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sandpaperedsimple
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had sandpaperedperfect
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was sandpaperingprogressive
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were sandpaperingprogressive
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had been sandpaperingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sandpaper
Explanation
Sandpaper is a special thick paper with a rough, abrasive surface. Painters will often sand a wall with sandpaper before painting it. Woodworkers use sandpaper to smooth wooden surfaces, and sandpaper is also useful for removing loose paint, grit, or dirt when you're painting or refinishing something. Sandpaper is thought to have been invented in thirteenth century China, from a crushed substance, often shells or sand, that was glued to parchment with natural gum. In the 1800s, a similar product called "glass paper" was made from crushed glass, which, despite its name, is sometimes still used in today's sandpaper.
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 though the sponge feels soft, its internal structure acts like extremely fine sandpaper.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 18, 2026
Born Tyrone Griffin Jr., Ty Dolla Sign is known for his gruff sandpaper vocals and memorable hooks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
Certainly the high jinks have caught the attention of those in Australia, who have put the sandpaper down long enough to have their say on England's morals.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2025
“Hard Truths” is sublime and soft in the way that a rough surface is smoothed to the touch by sandpaper.
From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2025
Through the earpiece it sounded like fine-grain sandpaper brushing on whitewood.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
The team used 31 industrial sandpapers with surfaces of varying roughness, ranging from 1 to 100 microns thick, as experimental targets.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 16, 2024
Those pulses passed through transceivers, encountered the sandpapers, then rebounded back through the system for analysis by the team's learning model.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 16, 2024
My daughter had gone to a big box store and was overwhelmed by the selection of sandpapers.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2023
As you use aluminum oxide sandpapers, the fragments break off creating a new sharpened edge.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2023
Tiny saws, tacks, gouges, carving chisels, fine-gritted sandpapers.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Political power sandpapered the edges of her idealism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
"Chattering" is driven by synthetic rhythms, layers of sandpapered guitar textures and barely audible human voices that seem just out of reach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2018
Traditional exfoliators like fruit enzymes or glycolic acid leave her looking as if she had sandpapered her face.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 1, 2016
The costumer sandpapered Mary Surratt’s dress in later scenes to simulate the appropriate wear and tear.
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2011
It was an old Gibson guitar, sandpapered and waxed to a honey- yellow finish.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
It was the same tenacity required in Cape Town in 2018, amidst a worldwide furore after his teammates were caught sandpapering a match ball.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2020
Unlike Billie or Lana or Ariana, all of whom are sandpapering their aesthetics down to the micron, Lizzo is full of surprise, and hopefully will remain that way.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2020
For the last two weeks, the show’s team has been sandpapering its format and appearance, though Mr. Rydholm said more changes were likely to come once there’s comfort with the same-day taping-and-editing schedule.
From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2016
Fortnight ago a gang of WPA workmen were placidly sandpapering the features of a marble George Washington in Philadelphia's dark old City Hall.
From Time Magazine Archive
P. T. was on him immediately, muddy paws all over the beige raincoat, and pink tongue sandpapering Jesse’s wet face.
From "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson
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.
