ˈwall-paper
Also wallpaper.
1. Paper, usually printed in ornamental designs, used for covering the interior walls of buildings; paper-hangings. Now also made of other materials, such as vinyl. Cf. wallcovering s.v. wall n.1 25.
| 1827 Drake & Mansfield Cincinnati in 1826 viii. 65 Two Wall Paper Factories, 9 hands. 1847 F. A. Kemble Let. 12 Dec. in Rec. Later Life (1882) III. 300 You know how subject I am even to such an influence as that of a ridiculous wall-paper. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Wall-paper. See Paper⁓hangings. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. xxx. 13 Block-printed chintz furniture and wall paper. [Elsewhere usually called ‘paper hangings’.] 1879 Black Macleod of Dare xli, That was the guide she turned to—the woman-man, the dabbler in paint-boxes, the critic of carpets and wall-papers. 1883 Harper's Mag. Mar. 578/1 Should the new wall-paper be plain or gilded? 1904 L. Creighton Life & Lett. M. Creighton I. 83 He is spoken of as being the first to..introduce the inhabitants of Falmouth to Morris's wall-papers. 1905 H. G. Wells Kipps ii. viii. §3 Revel came last,..politely admiring in a flute-like cultivated voice the mellow wall-paper of the staircase. |
2. fig. An unobtrusive background; esp. with reference (chiefly derog.) to sound, music, etc. Freq. with preceding adj. or in attrib. use.
| 1919 ‘C. Dane’ Legend 28 They wearied me... They faded into a mere wall-paper of sound, and I forgot that they were there. 1934 C. Lambert Music Ho! iii. 228 It is a matter of indifference whether jazz is a stimulant..or a piece of mental wallpaper. 1959 A. Bailey Making Progress 157 Cool jazz formed a background, like aural wallpaper. 1966 Guardian 4 June 6/4 Of course, we have to have wallpaper talk, in a week's broadcasting, just as some people have to have wallpaper music all the week. 1969 Listener 24 Apr. 588/1 The cultural wallpaper of his own childhood was the Australian commercial radio stations. 1977 Zigzag June 40/1 The best track, for me, is..‘Living in The Band’, but most of this is just so much wallpaper. 1980 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts Mar. 223/2 Possibly television is becoming visual wallpaper in much the same way as radio has become audible wallpaper. |
Hence wall-papering vbl. n., wall-papers collectively; ˈwallpaper v. trans. and intr., to cover a wall with wallpaper; also transf. and fig.; ˈwallpapered ppl. a.
| 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. ii. ix, A young lady..who was better worth staring at, it occurred to Sloppy, than the best of wall-papering. 1934 Webster, Wallpaper v.t. & i. 1956 Family Handyman Magazine's Painting & Redecorating Bk. 34/1 If you want to paint formerly wallpapered walls: 1. Use check system just described. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio xi. 198 If this technique..does not quite come off it may be possible to wallpaper over the cracks by adding a new overall backing. 1973 Listener 29 Nov. 733/1 You could wallpaper St. Paul's with the free brochures. 1975 P. Dickinson Lively Dead xxi. 122 She had planned to wallpaper the back room. 1977 M. French Women's Room (1978) ii. 108 She painted and wallpapered, refinished furniture. 1977 Listener 28 Apr. 537/1 Into the Cambridge Union, through the amazingly wallpapered lobby. 1978 R. Mills Comprehensive Educ. 80 We did the paintwork and wallpapered the ceiling. 1979 ‘P. O'Connor’ Into Strong City xii. 39 The room is wallpapered with..a section of Soho dressed as artists as distinct from the criminal section who dress in another fashion. |