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on paper
Idioms and Phrases
In theory, hypothetically, as in Considering casualties, on paper the Americans won the Vietnam War , or They are a good team on paper but not so in the field . This metaphoric expression contrasts something written down with concrete reality. [Late 1700s]Example Sentences
But their sons were so far away in weight and experience that, on paper, they never should have shared a ring.
Violence in public gets a lighter sentence than a lie on paper.
Clearly, India's road design standards are solid on paper - but poorly enforced on the ground.
But while the economy looks good on paper, workers in the area contend with wages that have flatlined over the last 15 years while house prices increased to ten times average earnings.
Victory for Boulter would have wrapped up the tie for GB, and the world number 40 was the favourite on paper.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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