paperchase en · NOUN
Etymology
From paper + chase.
Meanings
- A cross-country race in which a trail of shredded paper marks the route.
- (broadly) An administration process involving cross-references between many documents; the following of a paper trail.
-
(figuratively) Any long line of white objects or things.
He lit his first cigarette, a Balkan and Turkish mixture made for him by Morlands of Grosvenor Street, and watched the small Waves lick the long seashore and the fishing-fleet from Dieppe string out towards the June heat-haze followed by a paper-chase of herring-gulls.
1953, Ian Fleming, “L’Ennemi Écoute”, in Casino Royale, London: Pan Books, published 1955, page 28:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| paper-chase | alternative | lexicographic | |
| paper chase | alternative | lexicographic | |
| paperchases | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (4)
ga páipéarachas (dealing with paperwork) · fi paperisota (dealing with paperwork) · fr rallie-papier (a cross-country race in which a trail of shredded paper marks the route) · ga lorg páipéir (a cross-country race in which a trail of shredded paper marks the route)