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
The articles triggered extensive paper trails between the ministry of justice, intelligence bodies, border and customs agencies, the federal police, and local authorities, but were often disconnected from one another, or took a long time to be referred to the various sub-offices for action.
—
Solly Boussidan, FOXNews.com, 18 Jan. 2026
Expedia played a shell game with your money, wasted your time with useless chatbots and ignored paper trails.
—Christopher Elliott, Mercury News, 12 Jan. 2026
State and local investigators have already reported that tens of billions of dollars of homelessness spending vanished without a paper trail.
—Susan Shelley, Oc Register, 7 Jan. 2026
With an electronic paper trail of revenues and expenses, dispensaries would look more credible and verifiable to banks and potential lenders, said Amiyatosh Purnanandam, a professor of finance at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, Austin, and an expert in corporate finance.
—Hannah Parker, NBC news, 24 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paper trail
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Solly Boussidan, FOXNews.com, 18 Jan. 2026
Expedia played a shell game with your money, wasted your time with useless chatbots and ignored paper trails.
—Christopher Elliott, Mercury News, 12 Jan. 2026
State and local investigators have already reported that tens of billions of dollars of homelessness spending vanished without a paper trail.
—Susan Shelley, Oc Register, 7 Jan. 2026
With an electronic paper trail of revenues and expenses, dispensaries would look more credible and verifiable to banks and potential lenders, said Amiyatosh Purnanandam, a professor of finance at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, Austin, and an expert in corporate finance.
—Hannah Parker, NBC news, 24 Dec. 2025
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 1 Feb. 2026.
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