working papers
Americanplural noun
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legal papers often required for employment, as by an immigrant worker or temporary employee.
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legal papers enabling a minor in the United States to work under certain conditions.
plural noun
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papers or notes showing the intermediate stages of a proposal, solution, etc, arrived at or being worked on
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legal documents that certain people in some countries must possess to be allowed to work
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.
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
The band members were arrested on Thursday on the southern resort island of Phuket after playing a concert, allegedly for not having the proper working papers.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 29, 2024
Circé Lienart, who runs Maison des Coursiers, a city-funded resource center for delivery workers, in Paris’ Barbès neighborhood, estimates that 2 in 3 delivery couriers do not have French working papers.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2023
“You go around to Headquarters and the boys will take it away for you. Suppose Francie wanted to get working papers but was too young.”
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
