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

Taken together, the three articles form a quiet paper trail — Levis’ Jewish identity was occasionally noted, but never coherently recognized or integrated into the broader baseball record. — Zachary Kranc, Sun Sentinel, 27 Oct. 2026

Paying bills Accounting software reduces the chaotic paper trail of manual bookkeeping by turning invoice tracking and payments into a hands-off workflow. — Dana Miranda, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2026

Virginians deserve more than a paper trail showing that pollution occurred. — Dana Adkins, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026

For over a decade, the only paper trail of these purchases were offline, stored in filing cabinets, inaccessible to the public. — Amanda Aronczyk, NPR, 23 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1935, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for paper trail

• abigail
• cottontail
• countervail
• fingernail
• martingale
• mesoscale
• microscale
• monorail
• nanoscale
• ponytail
• swallowtail
• wensleydale

Kids Definition

paper trail

noun

: documents (as financial records or published materials) from which a person's actions may be traced or opinions learned