Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for wastepaper. Search instead for waste-paper.

wastepaper

American  
[weyst-pey-per] / ˈweɪstˌpeɪ pər /

noun

  1. paper thrown away as useless.


wastepaper British  
/ ˈweɪstˌpeɪpə /

noun

  1. paper discarded after use

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of wastepaper

First recorded in 1575–85; waste + paper

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:

The accusation, based on a comparison of handwriting on a document found in the German's wastepaper basket in Paris, kicked off what would become known as the "Dreyfus affair".

From Barron's Nov. 18, 2025

New visitors found the sculpture—inspired by an Indian stepwell and sometimes likened to a wastepaper basket or a shawarma—encased in metal mesh, as if to keep out pigeons.

From Slate Jul. 30, 2025

She said they were deployed to make good on her country’s recent threat to “scatter mounds of wastepaper and filth” in South Korea in response to the leafleting campaigns by South Korean activists.

From Seattle Times May 30, 2024

The team then created a heavy-duty version of their wastepaper foam by combining the pulp, gelatin, PVA glue, and a silica-based fluid that hardens as force is applied.

From Science Daily Dec. 14, 2023

Since the buckets were in the attic, all we had was Peter’s metal wastepaper basket.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training