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working papers

American  

plural noun

  1. legal papers often required for employment, as by an immigrant worker or temporary employee.

  2. legal papers enabling a minor in the United States to work under certain conditions.


working papers British  

plural noun

  1. papers or notes showing the intermediate stages of a proposal, solution, etc, arrived at or being worked on

  2. legal documents that certain people in some countries must possess to be allowed to work

"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 working papers

First recorded in 1925–30


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:

Two new working papers circulated by the authoritative National Bureau of Economic Research show the double squeeze the U.S. dollar and the Treasury market are facing both overseas and at home.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

Clients’ agents will collect supporting details and send them to EY’s agents, which will use that to prepare working papers that are then reviewed by humans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

They are hoping he can get working papers as soon as possible.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2023

Information about that account, Mr. Barofsky wrote, was “among the working papers that were compiled during the bank’s prior investigations in the 1990s,” which he said called into question Credit Suisse’s candor at the time.

From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2023

The result was that the animals, like us, got their working papers.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

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