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paper loss UK US noun [C or U] ACCOUNTING
► a loss in the value of an investment, etc. that appears in accounts, but that does not involve a real loss of cash, for example shares that have fallen in value but that have not been sold: »
The US banking giant was facing a paper loss of about $37.5 million.
»Some of the thousands of private investors sitting on big paper losses could still get their money back.
Financial and business terms. 2012.