I. ˈbu̇k noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English bōc; akin to Old High German buoh book, Old Norse bōk, Gothic bōka letter, Old English bōc beech; probably from the early Germanic use of beech wood as a medium for the carving of runic characters — more at beech
1.
a. obsolete : a formal written document ; especially : a deed of conveyance of land — see bookland
b.
(1) : a collection of written sheets of skin or tablets of wood or ivory
(2) : a continuous roll of parchment or a strip of parchment creased between columns and folded like an accordion
c. : a collection of written, printed, or blank sheets fastened together along one edge and usually trimmed at the other edges to form a single series of uniform leaves ; specifically : a collection of folded sheets bearing printing or writing that have been cut, sewn, and usually bound between covers into a volume
d.
(1) : a stack of sheets of paper interleaved alternately with the material whose finish the paper acquires after it passes through the plater — called also form
(2) : the printed but unfolded and uncut sheets for a book
e. : a long systematic literary composition
f. : a major division of a treatise or literary work
an epic in 12 books
g. : any of the records (as the daybook, cashbook, salesbook, journal, ledger) in which a systematic record of business transactions may be kept — often used in plural
their books show a profit
h. in United States copyright law : any of various written or printed materials: as
(1) : a bound volume
(2) : a private letter
(3) : a telephone or trade directory
(4) : an article in an encyclopedia
i. : a magazine or publication in magazine format
2. capitalized : bible
he swore on the Book that it was so
3.
a. obsolete : learning , study , scholarship
b. books plural , chiefly Midland : school or the time spent in school
books took up at 8 o'clock — H.E.Giles
4.
a. : something felt to be a source of enlightenment or instruction
drew his knowledge from the great book of nature
her face was an open book
b.
(1) : a particular set of facts, circumstances, or ideas
his past is an open book
(2) : an area of experience or knowledge
calculus was a closed book to him
c. : the total available knowledge and experience that can be brought to bear on a task or problem
tried every trick in the book to win the election
5. : an official or personal set of standards, rules, or policies
mules did not, according to the book scratch their heads with their hind feet — Herbert Hoover
the sergeant ran his squad by the book
6.
a. : the aggregate charges that can be made or pressed against an accused person — usually used with throw
he thought he'd get off with just a reprimand, but they threw the book at him
b. : a position from which one must answer for certain acts : account — usually used with bring or call
our system of bringing the guilty to book — Felix Frankfurter
7.
a. : a libretto especially of an opera or musical comedy
b. : the script of a play
c. : the repertory of an orchestra or a musician
8. : a packet of commodities bound together for convenient dispensing and usually removed and used one at a time
a book of stamps
a book of matches
specifically : a bundle of skeins of raw silk often 30 in number
9.
a.
(1) : bookmaker
(2) : a bookmaker's business or base of operations
b. : an event or contingency on which a bookmaker will accept bets together with the odds offered
c. : the record kept by a bookmaker of bets placed with him
he makes book on dog races
d. : a participant or onlooker in a game (as craps) who accepts bets on its contingencies
e. : banker 2c
f. : pool III 1b
10.
a. : the number of tricks a cardplayer or side must win before any trick can have scoring value:
(1) whist : six tricks
(2) bridge : six tricks for declarer and for his opponents the greatest number declarer can lose without being defeated
b. : a set of cards having scoring value (as all four cards of one kind in authors)
c. archaic : a deck of cards
11. : the omasum of a ruminant
12. : a thick aggregate of mica usually consisting of a single crystal of considerable dimension in the direction perpendicular to the cleavage
13. : a stack of half leaves of tobacco from which the stems have been cut
14. : flat sections of stage scenery joined by hinges
a book ceiling
15. : a record of membership especially in a union
•
- in one's bad books
- in one's book
- in one's good books
- one for the book
- on the books
- without book
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English boken, from Old English bōcian, from bōc book
transitive verb
1. obsolete : to convey or grant (land or property) by charter
2. : to enter, write, or register (as a name, an act, or an intention) in a record, book, or list:
a. : to engage transportation or conveyance for
a load of eggs booked for Chicago
he is booked to sail Monday
b. : to schedule a program of engagements for
the orchestra was booked for a week at the hotel
c. : to set aside time for : schedule
the president booked a strategy meeting
d. : to reserve in advance — chiefly Brit. in all but past participial use and often used with up
he paid the dinner bill and stopped to book cinema seats
sorry, but we're all booked up
3. : to enter the name of and tentative charges against (a person) usually in a police register
they booked him on suspicion
4. : to accept (bets) as a bookmaker
intransitive verb
1. : to express in advance a desire for something in order to reserve it
we should have booked
2. chiefly Britain : to register in a hotel — usually used with in
we went to a hotel and booked in
III. adjective
1.
a. : put down in writing : formal
b. : bookish
2.
a. : derived from or based on the matter in a book
an ounce of mother-wit … is worth a stone of book -knowledge — F.T.Palgrave
specifically : theoretical as opposed to practical
book farming
b. : correct or advisable according to a book accepted as authoritative
a book bid in bridge
3. : shown by a system of accounting
book value
the book strength of the enemy
IV. transitive verb
Britain , of a referee : to note the name or number of (as a soccer player) for a serious infraction of the rules
intransitive verb
slang : leave : go