Phrase guide

paper clip

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A small, folded, wire or plastic device used to hold sheets of paper together.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Listed after an amount of money to emphasize a lack of resources.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, humorous

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a wire or plastic clip for holding sheets of paper together

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the paper clip was invented in 1900

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: paperclip, gem clip

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: clip

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

72 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مِشْبَك وَرَق (mišbak waraq) — paper clip
  • Armenian: ամրակ (amrak) — paper clip
  • Azerbaijani: kağız qısqacı — paper clip
  • Belarusian: канцыля́рская сашчэ́пка (kancyljárskaja saščépka) — paper clip
  • Belarusian: сашчэ́пка (saščépka) — paper clip
  • Bulgarian: кла́мер (klámer) — paper clip
  • Catalan: clip — paper clip
  • Chinese Cantonese: 萬字夾 /万字夹 — paper clip
  • Chinese Mandarin: 回形針 /回形针 (huíxíngzhēn) — paper clip
  • Chinese Mandarin: 萬字夾 /万字夹 (wànzìjiā) — paper clip
  • Chinese Mandarin: 迴紋針 /回纹针 (huíwénzhēn) — paper clip
  • Chinese Mandarin: 回文針 /回文针 (huíwénzhēn) — paper clip
  • Chinese Mandarin: 曲別針 /曲别针 (qūbiézhēn) — paper clip
  • Chinese Mandarin: 紙夾 /纸夹 (zhǐjiā) — paper clip
  • Czech: kancelářská sponka — paper clip
  • Czech: sponka — paper clip
  • Danish: clips — paper clip
  • Danish: papirklips — paper clip
  • Dutch: paperclip — paper clip
  • Esperanto: paperklipo — paper clip
  • Esperanto: paperfiksilo — paper clip
  • Estonian: kirjaklamber — paper clip
  • Estonian: klamber — paper clip
  • Faroese: pappírsklemma — paper clip
  • Finnish: paperiliitin — paper clip
  • Finnish: klemmari — paper clip
  • French: trombone — paper clip
  • German: Büroklammer — paper clip
  • German: Klammer — paper clip
  • Greek: συνδετήρας (syndetíras) — paper clip
  • Hausa: kìlîf — paper clip
  • Hebrew: מְהַדֵּק (mehadéq) — paper clip
  • Hungarian: gemkapocs — paper clip
  • Icelandic: bréfaklemma — paper clip
  • Indonesian: penjepit kertas — paper clip
  • Irish: fáiscín páipéar — paper clip
  • Italian: graffetta — paper clip
  • Italian: fermaglio — paper clip
  • Japanese: クリップ (kurippu) — paper clip
  • Japanese: 紙挟み (kamibasami) — paper clip
  • Korean: 클립 (keullip) — paper clip
  • Lithuanian: sąvaržėlė — paper clip
  • Luxembourgish: Klamer — paper clip
  • Macedonian: споју́валка (spojúvalka) — paper clip
  • Macedonian: спо́јница (spójnica) — paper clip
  • Māori: pine pepa — paper clip
  • Māori: kinipepa — paper clip
  • Mongolian: цаасны хавчаар (caasny xavčaar) — paper clip
  • Navajo: naaltsoos ahíyółtąʼígíí — paper clip
  • Norwegian: binders — paper clip
  • Persian: کلیپس (klips) — paper clip
  • Persian: گیرهٔ کاغذ — paper clip
  • Polish: spinacz — paper clip
  • Portuguese: clipe — paper clip
  • Portuguese: clips — paper clip
  • Romanian: agrafă — paper clip
  • Romanian: clemă — paper clip
  • Russian: канцеля́рская скре́пка (kanceljárskaja skrépka) — paper clip
  • Russian: скре́пка (skrépka) — paper clip
  • Serbo-Croatian: спа́јалица — paper clip
  • Serbo-Croatian: spájalica — paper clip
  • Slovak: sponka — paper clip
  • Slovene: spojka — paper clip
  • Upper Sorbian: spinka — paper clip
  • Spanish: clip — paper clip
  • Spanish: sujetapapeles — paper clip
  • Spanish: prendedor — paper clip
  • Swedish: gem — paper clip
  • Turkish: ataş — paper clip
  • Turkish: tutturgaç — paper clip
  • Ukrainian: канцеля́рська скрі́пка (kanceljársʹka skrípka) — paper clip
  • Ukrainian: скрі́пка (skrípka) — paper clip