book

(Hong Kong Cantonese, colloquial) to book; to reserve


book

Knowing I lou'd my bookes, he furniſhd me / From mine owne Library, with volumes, that / I prize aboue my Dukedome.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 3, column 1:

I repeat: it suffices that a book be possible for it to exist. Only the impossible is excluded. For example: no book can be a ladder, although no doubt there are books which discuss and negate and demonstrate this possibility and others whose structure corresponds to that of a ladder.

1962, Luis Borges, translated by James East Irby, The Library of Babel:

I can be anything.
Take a look!
It's in a book:
A reading rainbow.

1983, Steve Horelick et al., Reading Rainbow:

Trefusis's quarters could be described in one word. Books. Books and books and books. And then, just when an observer might be lured into thinking that that must be it, more books... Trefusis himself was highly dismissive of them. ‘Waste of trees,’ he had once said. ‘Stupid, ugly, clumsy, heavy things. The sooner technology comes up with a reliable alternative the better... The world is so fond of saying that books should be “treated with respect”. But when are we told that words should be treated with respect?’

She opened the book to page 37 and began to read aloud.

He was frustrated because he couldn't find anything about dinosaurs in the book.

A collection of sheets of paper bound together to hinge at one edge, containing printed or written material, pictures, etc.

I have three copies of his first book.

“I would never read a book,” he once told an interviewer. “I don’t want to say no book is ever worth reading, but I actually do believe something pretty close to that.”

2022 December 6, Stephen Marche, quoting Sam Bankman-Fried, “The College Essay Is Dead”, in The Atlantic:

A long work fit for publication, typically prose, such as a novel or textbook, and typically published as such a bound collection of sheets, but now sometimes electronically as an e-book.

Genesis is the first book of the Bible.

Many readers find the first book of A Tale of Two Cities to be confusing.

I'm running a book on who is going to win the race.

(gambling) A record of betting (from the use of a notebook to record what each person has bet).

(informal) A bookmaker (a person who takes bets on sporting events and similar); bookie; turf accountant.

a book of stamps

a book of raffle tickets

A convenient collection, in a form resembling a book, of small paper items for individual use.

The guild helps ensure that the ownership and control of the music, lyrics, and book of a show remain in the hands of its authors and composers—not the producers.

2010, David Baskerville, Tim Baskerville, Music Business Handbook and Career Guide, page 172:

(theater) The script of a musical or opera.

(usually in the plural) Records of the accounts of a business.

(law, colloquial) A book award, a recognition for receiving the highest grade in a class (traditionally an actual book, but recently more likely a letter or certificate acknowledging the achievement).

(sports) A document, held by the referee, of the incidents that happened in a game.

Celtic captain Scott Brown joined team-mate Majstorovic in the book and Rangers' John Fleck was also shown a yellow card as an ill-tempered half drew to a close.

2011 March 2, Andy Campbell, “Celtic 1 - 0 Rangers”, in BBC:

(sports, by extension) A list of all players who have been booked (received a warning) in a game.

(horse racing) The list of mares that a stallion will breed in a given season.

(horse racing) A list of the races that a jockey is scheduled to ride in.

(cartomancy) The twenty-sixth Lenormand card.

The Book is an oral tradition of belief in The Life that has been passed down from player to player from generation to generation.

1974, Adrienne Lanier Seward, The Black Pimp as a Folk Hero, page 11:

On the other hand The Book is an oral tradition containing the rules and principles to be adopted by a pimp who wishes to be a player.

1994, Antiquarian Book Monthly, volume 21, page 36:

(with "the") The accumulated body of knowledge passed down among black pimps.

Getting your book (portfolio) organised is the first step, and knowing both what to include, and what to leave out, is an essential step towards achieving that important agency placement.

2017, Nik Mahon, Basics Advertising 02: Art Direction, page 8:

Your portfolio — your book — has to be killer.

(advertising, informal) A portfolio of one's previous work in the industry.

The opposite-colored bishops endgame is usually a book draw.

A book move

out of book

White to move and win. How can he do it? The BK plans a march to h8, eating the f4 pawn en route, for a book draw.

2018 April 6, Leonard Barden, “Chess: Schoolboy Vincent Keymer secures shock triumph at Grenke Open”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 2023-01-12:

This seems certain to simplify into a battle between White's king, rook and two pawns against Black's king and rook. In some cases a book draw is possible. But a book win is more likely.

2020, Andrew Soltis, How to Swindle in Chess, Batsford Books, →ISBN:

(chess, uncountable) The sum of chess knowledge in the opening or endgame.

books (plural)
boke (alternative)
booke (alternative)

have more chins than a Chinese phone book

why buy a book when you can join a library

why buy a book when you can join the library

Sranan Tongo: buku

Tok Pisin: buk
→ Rotokas: vuku

→ Chichewa: buku

→ Hawaiian: puke

→ Lingala: búku

→ Malagasy: boky

→ Maori: pukapuka (with reduplication)

→ Marshallese: bok

→ Motu: buka

→ Malagasy: boky

→ Shona: bhuku

→ Somali: buugga

i

possibly also from Afrikaans <i class="Latn mention" lang="af">boek</i>

→ Sotho: buka (possibly also from Afrikaans boek)

→ Zulu: ibhuku (possibly also from Afrikaans boek)

𖽐𖼊𖽠𖾑

collection of sheets of paper bound together containing printed or written material

boek

convenient collection of small paper items, such as stamps

boek

major division of a published work, larger than a chapter

boeke

usually in plural: records of the accounts of a business

кни́га

конто́рская or бухга́лтерская

From Middle English bok, book, from Old English bōc, from Proto-West Germanic *bōk, from Proto-Germanic *bōks. Eclipsed non-native Middle English livret, lyveret (“book, booklet”) from Old French livret (“book, booklet”). Bookmaker sense by clipping.

some speakers from Northern England and Ireland

buck (without the foot-strut split, when pronounced /bʊk/)


book

I want to book a hotel room for tomorrow night.

I can book tickets for the concert next week.

I haven't booked, so I don't have a clue as to whether the service will be busy or not. Supposedly, reservations are compulsory, but I want to find out what would happen if you just turn up.

2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:

(transitive) To reserve (something) for future use.

They booked that message from the hill.

(transitive) To write down, to register or record in a book or as in a book.

I booked a flight to New York.

(transitive) To add a name to the list of people who are participating in something.

The police booked him for driving too fast.

(law enforcement, transitive) To record the name and other details of a suspected offender and the offence for later judicial action.

(sports) To issue a caution to, usually a yellow card, or a red card if a yellow card has already been issued.

He was really booking until he passed the speed trap.

(intransitive, slang) To travel very fast.

The top three students had a bet on which one was going to book their intellectual property class.

(transitive, law student slang) To receive the highest grade in a class.

He was here earlier, but he booked.

en-verb

book (third-person singular simple present books, present participle booking, simple past and past participle booked)

books (present singular third-person)
booking (participle present)
booked (participle past)
booked (past)

From Middle English booken, boken, from Old English bōcian, ġebōcian, from the noun (see above).


book

(UK dialectal, Northern England) simple past of bake

From Middle English book, bok, from Old English bōc, from Proto-Germanic *bōk, first and third person singular indicative past tense of Proto-Germanic *bakaną (“to bake”).


book

From Middle Low German bôk, from Old Saxon bōk, from Proto-West Germanic *bōk, from Proto-Germanic *bōks.