book 1 (bo?ok)n.1. a. A set of written, printed, or blank pages fastened along one side and encased between protective covers.b. An e-book or other electronic resource structured like a book.2. a. A printed or written literary work: Did you ever finish writing that book?b. A main division of a larger printed or written work: a book of the Old Testament.3. a. A volume in which financial or business transactions are recorded.b. books Financial or business records considered as a group: checked the expenditures on the books.4. a. A libretto.b. The script of a play.5. Booka. The Bible.b. The Koran.6. a. A set of prescribed standards or rules on which decisions are based: runs the company by the book.b. Something regarded as a source of knowledge or understanding.c. The total amount of experience, knowledge, understanding, and skill that can be used in solving a problem or performing a task: We used every trick in the book to finish the project on schedule.d. Informal Factual information, especially of a private nature: What’s the book on him?7. A pack of like or similar items bound together: a book of matches.8. A record of bets placed on a race.9. Games The number of card tricks needed before any tricks can have scoring value, as the first six tricks taken by the declaring side in bridge.v. booked, book·ing, books v.tr.1. a. To arrange for or purchase (tickets or lodgings, for example) in advance; reserve.b. To arrange a reservation, as for a hotel room, for (someone): Book me into the best hotel in town.c. To hire or engage: booked a band for Saturday night.2. a. To list or register in a book: booked the revenue from last month’s sales.b. To list or record appointments or engagements in: A calendar that was booked solid on Tuesday.c. To record information about (a suspected offender) after arrest in preparation for arraignment, usually including a criminal history search, fingerprinting, and photographing.d. Sports To record the flagrant fouls of (a player) for possible disciplinary action, as in soccer.3. To designate a time for; schedule: Let’s book a meeting for next month.4. To be hired for or engaged in: The actor has booked his next movie with that director.v.intr. To make a reservation: Book early if you want good seats.adj.1. Of or relating to knowledge learned from books rather than actual experience: has book smarts but not street smarts.2. Appearing in a company’s financial records: book profits.Idioms: bring to book To demand an explanation from; call to account. in (one’s) book In one’s opinion: In my book they both are wrong. like a book Thoroughly; completely: I know my child like a book. one for the books A noteworthy act or occurrence. throw the book at1. To make all possible charges against (a lawbreaker, for example).2. To reprimand or punish severely.[Middle English bok, from Old English b?c; see bh?go- in Indo-European roots.]book?er n.Synonyms: book, bespeak, engage, reserve These verbs mean to cause something to be set aside in advance, as for one’s use or possession: will book a hotel room; made sure their selections were bespoken; engaged a box for the opera season; reserving a table at a restaurant.Word History: From an etymological perspective, book and beech are branches of the same tree. The Germanic root of both words is *b?k-, ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning “beech tree.” The Old English form of book is b?c, from Germanic *b?k-?, “written document, book.” The Old English form of beech is b?ce, from Germanic *b?k-j?n, “beech tree,” because the early Germanic peoples used strips of beech wood to write on. A similar semantic development occurred in Latin. The Latin word for book is liber, whence library. Liber, however, originally meant “bark”?that is, the smooth inner bark of a tree, which the early Romans likewise used to write on.book 2 (bo?ok)intr.v. booked, book·ing, books Informal To move or travel rapidly: We booked along at a nice clip.[Perhaps shortening and alteration (influenced by book) of boogie.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.book (b?k) n1. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) 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, paperback2. a. a written work or composition, such as a novel, technical manual, or dictionaryb. (as modifier): the book trade; book reviews. c. (in combination): bookseller; bookshop; bookshelf; bookrack. 3. a number of blank or ruled sheets of paper bound together, used to record lessons, keep accounts, etc4. (Accounting & Book-keeping) (plural) a record of the transactions of a business or society5. (Theatre) the script of a play or the libretto of an opera, musical, etc6. (Bible) a major division of a written composition, as of a long novel or of the Bible7. a number of tickets, sheets, stamps, etc, fastened together along one edge8. (Horse Racing) bookmaking a record of the bets made on a horse race or other event9. (Card Games) (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. (Bible) the book (sometimes capital) the Bible14. an open book a person or subject that is thoroughly understood15. 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 conduct17. close the book on to bring to a definite end: we have closed the book on apartheid. 18. (Accounting & Book-keeping) close the books accounting to balance accounts in order to prepare a statement or report19. cook the books informal to make fraudulent alterations to business or other accounts20. in my book according to my view of things21. in someone’s bad books regarded by someone with disfavour22. in someone’s good books regarded by someone with favour23. (Accounting & Book-keeping) keep the books to keep written records of the finances of a business or other enterprise24. on the books a. enrolled as a memberb. registered or recorded25. read someone like a book to understand a person, or his motives, character, etc, thoroughly and clearly26. throw the book at a. to charge with every relevant offenceb. to inflict the most severe punishment onvb27. 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. (tr) 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. (Soccer) (tr) (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 field30. (tr) archaic to record in a book[Old English b?c; related to Old Norse b?k, Old High German buoh book, Gothic b?ka letter; see beech (the bark of which was used as a writing surface)]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014book (b?k) n. 1. a long written or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usu. on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers: a book of poems; a book of short stories. 2. such a literary work in any format: Do you like listening to books on tape? 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, esp. one of the larger divisions. 5. the Book, the Bible. 6. the book, a. a set of rules, conventions, or standards: to go according to the book; to know every trick in the book. b. the telephone book. 7. the text or libretto of an opera, operetta, or musical. 8. books, the financial records of a business, institution, etc. 9. a script or story for a play. 10. the number of tricks that must be taken before any trick counts in the score of a card game. 11. a set or packet of tickets, checks, stamps, matches, etc., bound together like a book. 12. anything that serves for the recording of facts or events: The petrified tree was a book of nature. 13. gathered information and recommended strategy regarding a task, problem, opponent, etc., as in sports. 14. a pile or package of leaves, as of tobacco. 15. Slang. bookmaker (def. 1). v.t. 16. to enter in a book or list; record; register. 17. to reserve or make a reservation for (a hotel room, passage on a ship, etc.). 18. to register or list (a person) for a place, transportation, appointment, etc.: The travel agent booked us on the next cruise. 19. to engage for one or more performances. 20. to enter a charge against (an arrested person) on a police register. v.i. 21. to register one’s name. 22. to engage a place, services, etc.: Book early if you want a good table. 23. book in (or out), to sign in (or out), as at a job. 24. book up, to sell or buy out, fill up, or the like: Baseball fans have booked up the hotel for a week. adj. 25. pertaining to or dealing with books: the book department; a book salesman. 26. derived or learned entirely from books: book knowledge. 27. shown on a company’s books: The firm’s book profit was $53,680. Idioms: 1. bring to book, to bring to justice. 2. by the book, according to the correct or established form. 3. in one’s book, according to one’s personal judgment. 4. make book, a. to take bets and give odds. b. to wager; bet. 5. off the books, without being part of an official payroll, income report, etc. 6. one for the book(s), a noteworthy incident; something extraordinary. 7. throw the book at, Informal. to punish severely. [before 900; Middle English, Old English b?c; c. Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old Norse b?k, Old High German buoh] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.Book collection of tablets, sheets of paper, or similar material strung or bound together.Examples: book of beauty, 1595; of bitter passion, 1532; of gold leaf [separated by vellum leaves]; of knowledge, 1667; of love, 1592; of nature, 1830; of precepts, 1380; of scorn, 1847; of silk [bundle of skeins of raw silk].Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.bookPast participle: bookedGerund: bookingImperativePresentPreteritePresent ContinuousPresent PerfectPast ContinuousPast PerfectFutureFuture PerfectFuture ContinuousPresent Perfect ContinuousFuture Perfect ContinuousPast Perfect ContinuousConditionalPast ConditionalImperativebookbookPresentI bookyou bookhe/she/it bookswe bookyou bookthey bookPreteriteI bookedyou bookedhe/she/it bookedwe bookedyou bookedthey bookedPresent ContinuousI am bookingyou are bookinghe/she/it is bookingwe are bookingyou are bookingthey are bookingPresent PerfectI have bookedyou have bookedhe/she/it has bookedwe have bookedyou have bookedthey have bookedPast ContinuousI was bookingyou were bookinghe/she/it was bookingwe were bookingyou were bookingthey were bookingPast PerfectI had bookedyou had bookedhe/she/it had bookedwe had bookedyou had bookedthey had bookedFutureI will bookyou will bookhe/she/it will bookwe will bookyou will bookthey will bookFuture PerfectI will have bookedyou will have bookedhe/she/it will have bookedwe will have bookedyou will have bookedthey will have bookedFuture ContinuousI will be bookingyou will be bookinghe/she/it will be bookingwe will be bookingyou will be bookingthey will be bookingPresent Perfect ContinuousI have been bookingyou have been bookinghe/she/it has been bookingwe have been bookingyou have been bookingthey have been bookingFuture Perfect ContinuousI will have been bookingyou will have been bookinghe/she/it will have been bookingwe will have been bookingyou will have been bookingthey will have been bookingPast Perfect ContinuousI had been bookingyou had been bookinghe/she/it had been bookingwe had been bookingyou had been bookingthey had been bookingConditionalI would bookyou would bookhe/she/it would bookwe would bookyou would bookthey would bookPast ConditionalI would have bookedyou would have bookedhe/she/it would have bookedwe would have bookedyou would have bookedthey would have bookedCollins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011