on paper

on paper

English

Prepositional phrase

on paper

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see on,‎ paper.
2. (figuratively) Based on debatable inference; in theory.
   • August 25, 1814, Thomas Jefferson, letter to Edward Coles:

     From those of the former generation who were in the fulness of age when I came into public life, which was while our controversy with England was on paper only, I soon saw that nothing was to be hoped.

   • June 06, 2002, Graham Snowdon, The Telegraph:

     Hutchinson, the current champion at 50 miles, is on paper the fastest rider in the field for Sunday's event

   • 2011 Allen Gregory, "Pilot" (season 1, episode 1):

     Allen Gregory DeLongpre: Hey, just throwing out a random hypothetical to you. Let's say there's a new kid in school, and on paper he should be killing it, but for some reason the other kids don't like him? Why do you think that would be?

   • 2021 August 25, Richard Foster, “The rise and fall of railway's Big Four...”, in RAIL, number 938, page 55:

     Before 1914, coal was a true cash-cow, and on paper, the GWR looked to have hit the jackpot by being handed all the railways in the South Wales coal fields.

Translations

in theory

Catalan: sobre paper Dutch: op papier Finnish: teoriassa, paperilla French: sur le papier (fr) Norwegian: Bokmål: på papiret Nynorsk: på papiret Polish: na papierze Romanian: pe hârtie Russian: на бумаге (ru) (na bumage) Spanish: sobre el papel Turkish: kağıt üstünde

Anagrams

• propane