Wiktionary
n. a wound caused by a piece of paper or any thin, sharp material which can slice through a person's skin
Wikipedia
A paper cut occurs when a piece of paper or other thin, sharp material slices a person's skin. Paper cuts, though named from paper, can also be caused by other thin, stiff materials.
Although a loose paper sheet is usually too soft to cut, it can be very thin (sometimes as thin as a razor edge), being then able to exert high levels of pressure, enough to cut the skin. Paper cuts are most often caused by paper sheets that are strongly fastened together (such as brand new paper out of a ream), because one single paper sheet might be dislocated from the rest. Thus all the other sheets are holding this dislocated sheet in position, and the very small part held away from the rest can be stiff enough to act as a razor.
Paper cuts can be surprisingly painful as they can stimulate a large number of skin surface nociceptors (pain receptors) in a very small area of the skin. Because the shallow cut does not bleed very much, the pain receptors are left open to the air, ensuring continued pain. However, the cut can also be very deep, in which case a puddle of blood pools around a longer gash. This is exacerbated by irritation caused by the fibers in the paper itself, which may be coated in chemicals such as bleach. Additionally, most paper cuts occur in the fingers, which have a greater concentration of sensory receptors than the rest of the body.
The random orientation of collagen fibers in skin provides the ability to withstand pinpoint forces. However, the skin does not have the same strength against shearing forces and is easily cut.
A paper cut is a minor injury caused by paper.
Paper cut may also refer to:
- Paper cut bug, a low-complexity but high-annoyance-factor software bug encountered by many users.
- Paper Cuts (audio drama), a 2009 audio drama based on the TV series Doctor Who.
- PaperCut, print control software which controls the amount printed using a balance of money in a user's account.
In music:
- "Papercut", a 2001 song by Linkin Park.
- "Papercut", 2015 song by Zedd featuring Troye Sivan.
- Papercuts (band), an American indie pop project.
- Papercutz, a Portuguese electronic-music project.
- "Paper Cuts", a song by Nirvana from Bleach.
Usage examples of "paper cut".
I enclose a bit of paper cut into the form of the double share, which being opened at the fold to a right angle, will give an idea of it's general principle.
No visitor or official of the museum suffered so much as a paper cut.
The dime-store windows were loaded to the ceiling with candy kisses, model airplanes, paper cut-out dolls, and staring at the red-and-gold front, I could almost smell that dime-store fragrance.
It was almost weightless, but its edges were stiff enough to deal a nasty paper cut, if you weren't careful.
Whatever trace she'd left on the world would vanish as quickly as a paper cut.
Garth de Montfaucon strolled past with his arm around the bride and a side-glance like a paper cut.