book

[boo k] /bʊk/
noun
1.
a handwritten or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers.
2.
a work of fiction or nonfiction in an electronic format:
Your child can listen to or read the book online.
See also e-book (def 2).
3.
a number of sheets of blank or ruled paper bound together for writing, recording business transactions, etc.
4.
a division of a literary work, especially one of the larger divisions.
5.
the Book, the Bible.
6.
Music. the text or libretto of an opera, operetta, or musical.
7.
books, book of account.
8.
Jazz. the total repertoire of a band.
9.
a script or story for a play.
10.
a record of bets, as on a horse race.
11.
Cards. the number of basic tricks or cards that must be taken before any trick or card counts in the score.
12.
a set or packet of tickets, checks, stamps, matches, etc., bound together like a book.
13.
anything that serves for the recording of facts or events:
The petrified tree was a book of Nature.
14.
Sports. a collection of facts and information about the usual playing habits, weaknesses, methods, etc., of an opposing team or player, especially in baseball:
The White Sox book on Mickey Mantle cautioned pitchers to keep the ball fast and high.
15.
Stock Exchange.
  1. the customers served by each registered representative in a brokerage house.
  2. a loose-leaf binder kept by a specialist to record orders to buy and sell stock at specified prices.
16.
a pile or package of leaves, as of tobacco.
17.
Mineralogy. a thick block or crystal of mica.
18.
a magazine: used especially in magazine publishing.
19.
book value.
20.
Slang. bookmaker (def 1).
21.
the book.
  1. a set of rules, conventions, or standards:
    The solution was not according to the book but it served the purpose.
  2. the telephone book:
    I've looked him up, but he's not in the book.
verb (used with object)
22.
to enter in a book or list; record; register.
23.
to reserve or make a reservation for (a hotel room, passage on a ship, etc.):
We booked a table at our favorite restaurant.
24.
to register or list (a person) for a place, transportation, appointment, etc.:
The travel agent booked us for next week's cruise.
25.
to engage for one or more performances.
26.
to enter an official charge against (an arrested suspect) on a police register.
27.
to act as a bookmaker for (a bettor, bet, or sum of money):
The Philadelphia syndicate books 25 million dollars a year on horse racing.
verb (used without object)
28.
to register one's name.
29.
to engage a place, services, etc.
30.
Slang.
  1. to study hard, as a student before an exam:
    He left the party early to book.
  2. to leave; depart:
    I'm bored with this party, let's book.
  3. to work as a bookmaker:
    He started a restaurant with money he got from booking.
adjective
31.
of or pertaining to a book or books:
the book department; a book salesman.
32.
derived or learned from or based on books:
a book knowledge of sailing.
33.
shown by a book of account:
The firm's book profit was $53,680.
Verb phrases
34.
book in, to sign in, as at a job.
35.
book out, to sign out, as at a job.
36.
book up, to sell out in advance:
The hotel is booked up for the Christmas holidays.
Idioms
37.
bring to book, to call to account; bring to justice:
Someday he will be brought to book for his misdeeds.
38.
by the book, according to the correct or established form; in the usual manner:
an unimaginative individual who does everything by the book.
39.
close the books, to balance accounts at the end of an accounting period; settle accounts.
40.
cook the books, Informal. cook1 (def 12)
41.
in one's bad books, out of favor; disliked by someone:
He's in the boss's bad books.
42.
in one's book, in one's personal judgment or opinion:
In my book, he's not to be trusted.
43.
in one's good books, in favor; liked by someone.
44.
like a book, completely; thoroughly:
She knew the area like a book.
45.
make book,
  1. to accept or place the bets of others, as on horse races, especially as a business.
  2. to wager; bet:
    You can make book on it that he won't arrive in time.
46.
off the books, done or performed for cash or without keeping full business records: especially as a way to avoid paying income tax, employment benefits, etc.:
Much of his work as a night watchman is done off the books.
47.
one for the book / books, a noteworthy incident; something extraordinary:
The daring rescue was one for the book.
48.
on the books, entered in a list or record:
He claims to have graduated from Harvard, but his name is not on the books.
49.
throw the book at, Informal.
  1. to sentence (an offender, lawbreaker, etc.) to the maximum penalties for all charges against that person.
  2. to punish or chide severely.
50.
without book,
  1. from memory.
  2. without authority:
    to punish without book.
51.
write the book, to be the prototype, originator, leader, etc., of:
So far as investment banking is concerned, they wrote the book.
Origin
before 900; Middle English, Old English bōc; cognate with Dutch boek, Old Norse bōk, German Buch; akin to Gothic boka letter (of the alphabet) and not of known relation to beech, as is often assumed
Related forms
bookless, adjective
booklike, adjective
prebook, verb
rebook, verb
unbooked, adjective
Synonyms
25. reserve, schedule, bill, slate, program.
Antonyms
25. cancel.
Examples from the web for book
  • Call a book charming in these benighted days and you risk burying it forever.
  • The culture of the book in American higher education is in crisis.
  • Nothing beats having your child curl up in your lap to read a favorite book.
  • He was a character in a book I read a long time ago and the name's always stuck.
  • It can take up to two years to get a book from drawing board to bookstore.
  • The lecture became a best-selling book with the same title.
  • Take an antique leather-bound book, open it up, and inhale deeply.
  • The book eventually sorts itself out and becomes a travel diary, .
  • The book tells the story of Jung trying to face down his own demons .
  • If you own a physical book, in much of the world you may sell it, lend it-even burn or bury it.
British Dictionary definitions for book

book

/bʊk/
noun
1.
a number of printed or written pages bound together along one edge and usually protected by thick paper or stiff pasteboard covers See also hardback, paperback
2.
  1. a written work or composition, such as a novel, technical manual, or dictionary
  2. (as modifier): the book trade, book reviews
  3. (in combination): bookseller, bookshop, bookshelf, bookrack
3.
a number of blank or ruled sheets of paper bound together, used to record lessons, keep accounts, etc
4.
(pl) a record of the transactions of a business or society
5.
the script of a play or the libretto of an opera, musical, etc
6.
a major division of a written composition, as of a long novel or of the Bible
7.
a number of tickets, sheets, stamps, etc, fastened together along one edge
8.
(bookmaking) a record of the bets made on a horse race or other event
9.
(in card games) the number of tricks that must be taken by a side or player before any trick has a scoring value: in bridge, six of the 13 tricks form the book
10.
strict or rigid regulations, rules, or standards (esp in the phrases according to the book, by the book)
11.
a source of knowledge or authority: the book of life
12.
a telephone directory (in the phrase in the book)
13.
(sometimes capital) the book, the Bible
14.
an open book, a person or subject that is thoroughly understood
15.
a closed book, a person or subject that is unknown or beyond comprehension: chemistry is a closed book to him
16.
bring to book, to reprimand or require (someone) to give an explanation of his conduct
17.
close the book on, to bring to a definite end: we have closed the book on apartheid
18.
(accounting) close the books, to balance accounts in order to prepare a statement or report
19.
(informal) cook the books, to make fraudulent alterations to business or other accounts
20.
in my book, according to my view of things
21.
in someone's bad books, regarded by someone with disfavour
22.
in someone's good books, regarded by someone with favour
23.
keep the books, to keep written records of the finances of a business or other enterprise
24.
on the books
  1. enrolled as a member
  2. registered or recorded
25.
read someone like a book, to understand a person, or his motives, character, etc, thoroughly and clearly
26.
throw the book at
  1. to charge with every relevant offence
  2. to inflict the most severe punishment on
verb
27.
to reserve (a place, passage, etc) or engage the services of (a performer, driver, etc) in advance: to book a flight, to book a band
28.
(transitive) to take the name and address of (a person guilty of a minor offence) with a view to bringing a prosecution: he was booked for ignoring a traffic signal
29.
(transitive) (of a football referee) to take the name of (a player) who grossly infringes the rules while playing, two such acts resulting in the player's dismissal from the field
30.
(transitive) (archaic) to record in a book
See also book in, book into, book out, book up
Word Origin
Old English bōc; related to Old Norse bōk, Old High German buoh book, Gothic bōka letter; see beech (the bark of which was used as a writing surface)
Word Origin and History for book
n.

Old English boc "book, writing, written document," traditionally from Proto-Germanic *bokiz "beech" (cf. German Buch "book" Buche "beech;" see beech), the notion being of beechwood tablets on which runes were inscribed, but it may be from the tree itself (people still carve initials in them). The Old English word originally meant any written document. Latin and Sanskrit also have words for "writing" that are based on tree names ("birch" and "ash," respectively). Meaning "libretto of an opera" is from 1768. A betting book is from 1856.

v.

Old English bocian "to grant or assign by charter," from book (n.). Meaning "to enter into a book, record" is early 13c. Meaning "to enter for a seat or place, issue (railway) tickets" is from 1841; "to engage a performer as a guest" is from 1872. Related: Booked; booking.

Slang definitions & phrases for book

book

noun
  1. bookie (1860s+ Gambling)
  2. A bookie's function and place of business: Joey keeps a book (1860s+ Gambling)
  3. The daily logbook of a police station (1840s+ Police)
verb
  1. Make Book
  2. To charge someone with a crime or misdemeanor at a police station: They took the bum in and booked him for vagrancy (1840s+ Police)
  3. To engage or reserve in advance: They booked eight readings in three days for the visiting poet/ Book me a table for six (1820s+)
  4. hit the books
  5. To run or depart, esp rapidly: And the couple booked off into the sunset for their honeymoon (1980s+ Students)
Related Terms

by the book, crack a book, hit the books, in someone's bad books, little black book, one for the book, pound the books, read someone like a book, stroke book, take a page from someone's book, throw the book at someone, wish book, write the book


book in Technology

1. e-book.
2. book titles.
3. MacBook.
4. O'Reilly and Associates.
book in the Bible

This word has a comprehensive meaning in Scripture. In the Old Testament it is the rendering of the Hebrew word _sepher_, which properly means a "writing," and then a "volume" (Ex. 17:14; Deut. 28:58; 29:20; Job 19:23) or "roll of a book" (Jer. 36:2, 4). Books were originally written on skins, on linen or cotton cloth, and on Egyptian papyrus, whence our word "paper." The leaves of the book were generally written in columns, designated by a Hebrew word properly meaning "doors" and "valves" (Jer. 36:23, R.V., marg. "columns"). Among the Hebrews books were generally rolled up like our maps, or if very long they were rolled from both ends, forming two rolls (Luke 4:17-20). Thus they were arranged when the writing was on flexible materials; but if the writing was on tablets of wood or brass or lead, then the several tablets were bound together by rings through which a rod was passed. A sealed book is one whose contents are secret (Isa. 29:11; Rev. 5:1-3). To "eat" a book (Jer. 15:16; Ezek. 2:8-10; 3:1-3; Rev. 10:9) is to study its contents carefully. The book of judgment (Dan. 7:10) refers to the method of human courts of justice as illustrating the proceedings which will take place at the day of God's final judgment. The book of the wars of the Lord (Num. 21:14), the book of Jasher (Josh. 10:13), and the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah and Israel (2 Chr. 25:26), were probably ancient documents known to the Hebrews, but not forming a part of the canon. The book of life (Ps. 69:28) suggests the idea that as the redeemed form a community or citizenship (Phil. 3:20; 4:3), a catalogue of the citizens' names is preserved (Luke 10:20; Rev. 20:15). Their names are registered in heaven (Luke 10:20; Rev. 3:5). The book of the covenant (Ex. 24:7), containing Ex. 20:22-23:33, is the first book actually mentioned as a part of the written word. It contains a series of laws, civil, social, and religious, given to Moses at Sinai immediately after the delivery of the decalogue. These were written in this "book."

Idioms and Phrases with book

book

see: