book

book

I. book¹ S1 W1 /bʊk/ BrE AmE noun
[Language: Old English; Origin: boc]
1. PRINTED PAGES [countable] a set of printed pages that are held together in a cover so that you can read them:
I’ve just started reading a book by Graham Greene.
a cookery book
book about/on
a book about cats
2. TO WRITE IN [countable] a set of sheets of paper held together in a cover so that you can write on them:
a black address book
a notebook
3. SET OF THINGS [countable] a set of things such as stamps, matches, or tickets, held together inside a paper cover:
a cheque book
4. books [plural]
a) ACCOUNTS written records of the financial accounts of a business:
An accountant will examine the company’s books.
a small firm that is having problems balancing the books (=keeping its profits and spending equal)
on the books
They have £50 billion worth of orders on the books. ⇨ cook the books at cook¹(3)
b) JOBS the names of people who use a company’s services, or who are sent by a company to work for other people
on sb’s books
an agent with a lot of popular actors on his books
5. by the book exactly according to rules or instructions:
She feels she has to go by the book and can’t use her creativity.
do/play something by the book
The police were careful to do everything by the book.
6. a closed book a subject that you do not understand or know anything about:
Chemistry is a closed book to me.
7. be in sb’s good/bad books informal used to say that someone is pleased or annoyed with you
8. LAW be on the books if a law is on the books, it is part of the set of laws in a country, town, area etc
9. PART OF A BOOK [countable] one of the parts that a very large book such as the Bible is divided into
book of
the Book of Isaiah
10. in my book spoken said when giving your opinion:
In my book, nothing is more important than football.
11. bring somebody to book to punish someone for breaking laws or rules, especially when you have been trying to punish them for a long time:
War criminals must be brought to book.
⇨ statute book, ⇨ take a leaf out of sb’s book at leaf¹(2), ⇨ read somebody like a book at read¹(16), ⇨ suit sb’s book at suit²(5), ⇨ a turn-up for the book at turn-up(2), ⇨ throw the book at somebody at throw¹(26)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ read a book What book are you reading at the moment?
▪ look through a book (=look at the pages quickly) I looked through the book until I found the right section.
▪ write a book He’s written several interesting travel books.
▪ publish a book The book is published by Penguin.
▪ a book comes out (=it is published for the first time) Everyone was waiting for the new Harry Potter book to come out.
▪ borrow a book (also take out a book British English) (=from a library) You can borrow up to six books from the library.
▪ return a book (=to a library) Please return all your books before the end of term.
▪ renew a book (=arrange to continue borrowing it from a library) If you need to renew a book, you can do it by phone.
■ book + NOUN
▪ a book shop (also book store American English) I got it from that little book shop in the village.
▪ a book seller (=a person, shop, or company selling books) High street book sellers are experiencing a drop in sales.
▪ a book token British English (=a ticket that you can use to pay for a book) She always bought me book tokens for my birthday.
▪ a book review (=an article giving critical opinions of a book) She had a book review published in the student magazine.
▪ a book fair (=an event at which publishers and authors show new books)
▪ the introduction/preface/foreword to a book In the introduction to this book I referred to a conversation between myself and a young student.
▪ a section of a book The most useful section of the book is the list of suppliers of artists’ materials.
■ phrases
▪ the cover of a book His picture is on the cover of the book.
▪ a chapter of a book The first chapter of the book is about his childhood.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ types of book
▪ novel noun [countable] a book about imaginary people and events: The film is based on Nick Hornby’s best-selling novel. | a historical novel
▪ fiction noun [uncountable] books that describe imaginary people and events: She reads a lot of romantic fiction.
▪ literature noun [uncountable] novels and plays that are considered to be important works of art: I’m studying American literature at university.
▪ non-fiction noun [uncountable] books that describe real people and events: Men tend to prefer non-fiction.
▪ science fiction noun [uncountable] books about imaginary events in the future or space travel
▪ reference book noun [countable] a book such as a dictionary or encyclopedia, which you look at to find information
▪ textbook noun [countable] a book about a particular subject that you use in a classroom
▪ set book British English, course book British English noun [countable] a book that you have to study as part of your course
▪ guidebook noun [countable] a book telling visitors about a city or country
▪ picture book noun [countable] a book for children with many pictures in it
▪ hardcover/hardback noun [countable] a book that has a hard stiff cover
▪ paperback noun [countable] a book that has a paper cover
▪ biography noun [countable] a book about a real person’s life, written by another person
▪ autobiography noun [countable] a book that someone has written about their own life
▪ recipe book/cookery book British English (also cookbook American English) noun [countable] a book that tells you how to cook different meals
II. book² S2 BrE AmE verb
1. [intransitive and transitive] to make arrangements to stay in a place, eat in a restaurant, go to a theatre etc at a particular time in the future ⇨ reserve:
Have you booked a holiday this year?
The flight was already fully booked (=no more seats were available).
To get tickets, you have to book in advance.
The show’s booked solid (=all the tickets have been sold) until February.
2. [transitive] to arrange for someone such as a singer to perform on a particular date:
The band was booked for a benefit show in Los Angeles.
3. be booked up
a) if a hotel, restaurant etc is booked up, there are no more rooms, places, seats etc still available:
The courses quickly get booked up.
b) if someone is booked up, they are extremely busy and have arranged a lot of things they must do:
I’m all booked up this week – can we get together next Friday?
4. [transitive] to arrange for someone to go to a hotel, fly on a plane etc:
I’ve booked you a flight on Saturday.
book somebody on/in etc
I’ll book you in at the Hilton.
5. [transitive] to put someone’s name officially in police records, along with the charge made against them:
Smith was booked on suspicion of attempted murder.
6. [transitive] British English when a ↑referee in a sports game books a player who has broken the rules, he or she officially writes down the player’s name in a book as a punishment
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ book + NOUN
▪ book a holiday People often book their holidays in January.
▪ book a trip I booked the whole trip on the Internet.
▪ book a flight He picked up the phone and booked a flight to Barcelona.
▪ book a ticket It’s cheaper if you book your train ticket in advance.
▪ book a table (=in a restaurant) I’ll book a table for 7.30 tomorrow evening.
▪ book a room/hotel Ross found a good hotel and booked a room.
▪ book a seat She booked me a seat on the 9 am flight.
▪ book a place on something Students are advised to book a place on the course early.
■ adverbs
▪ book early We recommend you book early to avoid disappointment.
▪ book (well) in advance There are only 20 places, so it is essential to book well in advance.
▪ book online (=on the Internet) It’s much easier to book tickets online.
▪ be fully booked (=all the seats, tickets etc are sold) I’m afraid that show is fully booked.
▪ be booked solid (=all the seats, tickets etc are sold for a long period) The restaurant’s booked solid for the whole of the Christmas period.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ to arrange to do something
▪ arrange to organize or make plans for something such as a meeting, party, or trip: He had arranged to meet Marcia outside the restaurant. | The company arranges skiing trips.
▪ fix/fix up especially British English spoken to arrange something, especially for someone else: John had fixed up for me to give a talk. | I’ve fixed an appointment for you at the doctor’s.
▪ organize (also -ise British English) to make the arrangements for an event, especially a big public event: They had organized a protest against the war.
▪ set a time/date (also fix a time/date British English) to arrange for something to happen at a particular time or on a particular day: Have you set a date for the wedding yet? | We fixed a time for me to visit.
▪ reserve/book to arrange to stay in a place, go to a theatre, travel on a plane etc: I’ve booked the flight to Zurich. | He had reserved a table at the restaurant.
▪ take care of/make the arrangements to arrange all the details of an event: Uncle James is making all the funeral arrangements.
book in (also book into something) phrasal verb
British English to arrive at a hotel and say who you are etc SYN check in:
Several tourists were booking in.