paper trail
noun
: documents (such as financial records) from which a person's actions may be traced or opinions learned
Examples of paper trail in a Sentence
They covered up the fraud and were careful not to leave a paper trail.
Recent Examples on the Web
Instead, others will be making their own paper trails.
—
Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 18 June 2026
Collecting detailed records, such as ER visits, scans, prescriptions, and therapy notes, can create the proper paper trail.
—Miami Herald, 17 June 2026
The paper trail provides one of the most fundamental ways to monitor government agencies in California.
—Daniel Borenstein, Mercury News, 16 June 2026
The point is that the plumbing for supervision is being installed even where the public spigot stays shut, and a carrier that treats the attestation as a box-ticking nicety may find, at the next exam, that the box came with a paper trail attached.
—Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 10 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for paper trail
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Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 18 June 2026
Collecting detailed records, such as ER visits, scans, prescriptions, and therapy notes, can create the proper paper trail.
—Miami Herald, 17 June 2026
The paper trail provides one of the most fundamental ways to monitor government agencies in California.
—Daniel Borenstein, Mercury News, 16 June 2026
The point is that the plumbing for supervision is being installed even where the public spigot stays shut, and a carrier that treats the attestation as a box-ticking nicety may find, at the next exam, that the box came with a paper trail attached.
—Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 10 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for paper trail
Cite this Entry
“Paper trail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paper%20trail. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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