How to Use paper trail in a Sentence

paper trail

noun
  • They covered up the fraud and were careful not to leave a paper trail.
  • For years this was a hunch with no paper trail.
    — Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 10 June 2026
  • This is why the paper trails need to be followed.
    — Solcyré Burga, Time, 14 Nov. 2025
  • The flag dealer walked him through the paper trail.
    — Matthew Bremner, Rolling Stone, 11 Feb. 2026
  • This is why a paper trail matters.
    — Christopher Elliott, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2026
  • If that were the case, there should be a paper trail to confirm it.
    — Robert Goulder, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2023
  • But there was no way the casting team could have known since there was no paper trail.
    — Emily Longeretta, Variety, 14 June 2024
  • That ball is outta here and there is nothing left but a paper trail!
    — Jackson Weimer, Forbes, 18 Sep. 2021
  • There is also a sort of online paper trail that seems to grow each day.
    — Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2021
  • Behind the swing of their big hips lay paper trails of obeisance.
    — Danielle Parker, CBS News, 30 June 2026
  • The edges of the paper trail in the water, soaking it up like a sponge.
    — Emily Matchar, Smithsonian, 17 May 2018
  • These deaths are rarely preceded by a thick paper trail.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 3 Mar. 2026
  • The paper trail is your best defense in case of disputes later on.
    — Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 22 Nov. 2024
  • There are new voting machines in use that allow for a paper trail.
    — Dylan McGuinness, ExpressNews.com, 17 Oct. 2019
  • Because Richard has a paper trail of all the things that happened.
    — Adam B. Vary, Variety, 7 June 2023
  • However, lenders need a clear paper trail.
    — Jason Peters, Kansas City Star, 27 May 2026
  • And the state is one of a few whose election machines still produce no paper trail.
    — Paul Waldman, The Denver Post, 28 Aug. 2019
  • The paper trail between you and the cruise line did not spell out the airfare refund rules.
    — Christopher Elliott, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Jan. 2023
  • But the paper trail doesn’t tell the whole story, according to the team.
    — Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel, 24 June 2025
  • Without a paper trail, there's no way to prove someone asked for their money back.
    — Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 28 Apr. 2023
  • But for the companies that paid the tariffs, at least, there is a paper trail.
    — Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026
  • What was the paper trail in the decision making process?
    — Elliot Mann, Twin Cities, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Oral history was – and still is – a major link to our past, but the paper trail can go cold.
    — USA Today, 17 Oct. 2019
  • Instead, others will be making their own paper trails.
    — Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 18 June 2026
  • No paper trail has tied Frank to George or even George to Ida.
    — The Root, 13 Apr. 2018
  • Someone can make batches of the deadly stuff and never leave a paper trail.
    — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 13 Mar. 2018
  • Ozier has found the paper trail that might prove the latter to be ambiguous, at best.
    — Rosalind Bentley, ajc, 24 Aug. 2021
  • The company prefers e-mails to phone calls, since the paper trail is easier to track.
    — Clare Malone, The New Yorker, 2 May 2024
  • Whatever paper trail there is should be listed.
    — Ryan Oehrli, Charlotte Observer, 13 Aug. 2025
  • That way, there would never be a paper trail showing that the two of them had exchanged messages.
    — Zachariah Mushawatu, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Apr. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'paper trail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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