noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Strong paper coated with (traditionally) sand or (today) manufactured aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, or other abrasive material, used for smoothing and polishing. uncountable, usually

   "Near-synonym: emery paper"

2. 2
   stiff paper coated with powdered emery or sand wordnet
3. 3
   A sheet of such paper. countable, usually

   "I need a scraper and a sandpaper over here."

Verb

1. 1
   To polish or grind (a surface) with or as if with sandpaper. transitive
2. 2
   rub with sandpaper wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

emery papersandabrasiveabrasive paperabrasive paperbroken ground

Example

More examples

"After cutting the wood, use sandpaper to make it smooth."

Etymology

From sand + paper.

Related phrases

liquid sandpaper

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.