First recorded in 1950–55
How does yellow-pages compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Facebook didn’t buy yellow pages or local newspapers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
It was tied into the advertising it was doing in the yellow pages.
From The Verge ● Jun. 8, 2021
This teacher of mine said, Oh, you know, there’s Art Diary International, this book that was like a yellow pages of the art world.
From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2020
It started out as a simple program to track customer calls and marketing budgets, so their dads could figure out whether an ad in the yellow pages or on Google was worth their time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2019
There is a book in the pocket of the trench coat, a copy of The Comedians by Graham Greene, with yellow pages and tiny print.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
New York City’s telephone company in 1886 published the first Yellow Pages directory of business phone numbers—creating a nearly friction-free way for merchants and customers to find one another.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2025
I wouldn't give up, so looked in the Yellow Pages and came across the Prince's Trust.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2022
Or maybe looked it up in an outdated Yellow Pages phonebook they found in the back closet.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 16, 2022
They resorted to filling a cooler with bags of ice until Steichmann’s wife thought to go through the Yellow Pages.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2022
I got out the Yellow Pages and looked up cab companies.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
