wrapper
Americannoun
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wrappers
plural
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a person or thing that wraps.
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a covering or cover.
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a long, loose outer garment.
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a loose bathrobe; negligee.
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British. book jacket.
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the tobacco leaf used for covering a cigar.
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Armor. a supplementary beaver reinforcing the chin and mouth area of an armet of the 15th century.
noun
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the cover, usually of paper or cellophane, in which something is wrapped
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a dust jacket of a book
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the ripe firm tobacco leaf forming the outermost portion of a cigar and wound around its body
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a loose negligee or dressing gown, esp in the 19th century
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of wrapper
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at wrap, -er 1
Explanation
A wrapper is any kind of loose cover that encloses something that's for sale. The brightly colored paper that covers your candy bar is a wrapper. If you wrap something in foil or plastic to sell it, you've made a wrapper. Many wrappers are factory-made and sealed, like the wrapper on your ice cream bar, while others protect your fast-food burger or deli sandwich. In some places, people call a dressing gown or robe a wrapper too. No matter how you use the word, a wrapper wraps something. Its earliest use, in the 15th century, was as "a piece of fine cloth used to wrap bread."
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:
I recently finished an ice cream in Copenhagen and found myself stumped at the trash bins, wrapper in hand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
“It’s a way to create a tax-efficient wrapper around tax-inefficient investments,” said Callahan, who heads up BFA’s family wealth planning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
By stripping away that maturity safety net, the ETF wrapper can leave investors with continuous exposure to interest-rate volatility and turn what’s designed to be an inflation shield into a more speculative market trade.
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026
The court said that to eliminate that deception a "clear, understandable and easily perceptible notice on the wrapper was necessary".
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
He ran his fingers slowly back and forth along the length of it, stroking it lovingly, and the shiny paper wrapper made little sharp crackly noises in the quiet room.
From "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl
What most Americans own is the belief that falling rates fix everything, purchased in two wrappers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
In many stretches, you’d be hard-pressed to stroll along the banks of the San Gabriel or Los Angeles rivers without meeting abandoned water bottles, candy wrappers, golf balls, sad-looking teddy bears, even shopping carts.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
The ads featured pseudonymous home economist Sue Swanson, who promised that you purchased three TV Dinners and sent back the wrappers, Swanson would promptly mail you a “big silver dollar.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
Keep Wales Tidy said sweet wrappers, drinks containers and fast-food packaging were the most common types of litter found on kerbs.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
All week Francie walked home slowly from school with her eyes in the gutter looking for tin foil from cigarette packages or chewing gum wrappers.
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.
