Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
ream 1 (n.)
is Standard meaning either a specific number of sheets of paper (20 quires or 480 to 516 sheets) or, especially in the plural, “a great many, a lot.” The hyperbolic figurative sense can be applied to both mass and count nouns: We turned out reams of work [widgets] today.
