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# paperwork

noun, uncountable (paperwork)

«paperwork» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Forms, letters, reports and other papers that must be filled in or kept, especially for school, work or the government. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#m1)
2. The boring work of writing, filling in and sorting such papers, often seen as getting in the way of real work. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#m2)
3. (informal) Any official record, even on a computer, such as online forms. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#m3)

### In the lessons

In everyday life adults talk about paperwork for a new house, a passport, a school trip or a doctor's visit; a permission slip is paperwork too. In stories a tired teacher or officer sits behind «piles of paperwork». In school maths it can be a word problem about sheets or forms to be counted or shared. Phrases: «do the paperwork», «fill in the paperwork», «a pile of paperwork», «drowning in paperwork», «sort out the paperwork».

### Examples

- Dad stayed up late doing the paperwork for our new car. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x1)
- You must hand in the paperwork before the school trip. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x2)
- The vet asked us to fill in some paperwork about our dog. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x3)
- Mrs Lee had a mountain of paperwork on her desk. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x4)
- The police officer said the paperwork would take an hour. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x5)
- Each form in the paperwork had 4 pages, and there were 12 forms. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x6)
- Moving house means lots of paperwork. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x7)
- "Ugh, more paperwork," groaned the coach. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x8)

### Note

Uncountable: say «a lot of paperwork», «some paperwork», «a piece of paperwork», never «a paperwork» or «paperworks». It is one word. Often sounds slightly negative — dull but necessary.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «paperwork» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«paperwork» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/paperwork.html) on Mova free.