When I was younger, it was often used in slang.
"I'm going to ream you a new one."

6 minutes ago, drpaladin said:

It can also mean to cheat or victimize, or reprimand (as in ream out).

Isn't this usage an extension of the slang? Where the term 'ream out' became more standard from the more abrasive implications?

Just thinking out loud, and not thinking right either, cause I'm sleepy

4 minutes ago, Cia said:

Makes me think of the hole saws construction guys use. 😂

Holy construction tools, Batman!!!

6 hours ago, drpaladin said:

Ream has a multitude of meanings. One is 500 sheets of paper or in the plural, a large amount of anything. It can also mean to cheat or victimize, or reprimand (as in ream out).

I think you have a homonym.  A collection of 500 sheets of paper is a REEM. 

6 minutes ago, drpaladin said:

No, ream is correct.

Reem was a horned animal in ancient Hebrew literature or in nautical terms, to open the seams of planking to caulk them.

 

mea culpa

15 minutes ago, drpaladin said:

I did run across another meaning for ream, cream or froth.

I'm sorry, but synonyms rhyming is just wrong...
ream - cream...

When a lawyer is smiling, you're about to get reamed.

2 hours ago, drpaladin said:

I can still see it in my mind's eye on boxes of stationary in the supply room around sixty years ago, though back then it was 480 sheets.

I absolutely hated my mother taking me to the office. It only happened when the nanny was sick.

The first employment I had out of high school was with a company called, 'Adams Engraving & Embossing' (1969). Inventory Control Assistant (read gopher), I learned a heck of a lot about paper quantities, not to mention just how heavy a shipment of it could be(bundles & bales). My gross weekly pay was about $27. The only perk I got was that I was allowed to make (on my own time) my own embossed business card.

Back to your comment, 480 sheets was(still is) called a 'short' ream. Today 500 sheets(what you buy in stores) is also known as a 'long' ream.

Flash back to me. I lasted 6 months there, then I joined the military and the rest as they say is history.

Units of paper quantity - Wikipedia