a strip of paper for recording information in the form of rows of either six or eight holes, some or all of which are punched to produce a combination used as a discrete code symbol, formerly used in computers, telex machines, etc
paper tape in American English
noun
Computing
a narrow strip of paper in which holes are punched in designated patterns to represent characters: formerly in common use as an input/output medium
Also called: punched tape
Word origin
[1885–90, for earlier sense]This word is first recorded in the period 1885–90. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: reactor, retread, roller coaster, sensitization, upsweep
Examples of 'paper tape' in a sentence
paper tape
He began collecting anecdotes from athletes and army recruits who said that their tried and tested method was applying surgical paper tape.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Paper tape was applied to one of each of the runners' feet while the other one was left bare.