knowledge acquired by reading books, as distinguished from that obtained through observation and experience.
formal education.
She thought that common sense was just as important as book learning.
knowledge gained from books rather than from direct personal experience
formal education
First recorded in 1580–90
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In supple pentameter, Shakespeare explores the difference between the book learning the young men meant to engage in and the learning that emerges, despite their plans, from “the prompting eyes of beauty’s tutors.”
From New York Times • Jul. 27, 2023
And while that book learning was fine and all, neither school taught Berhalter the subject he really wanted to study, which was soccer.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2022
“While book learning was the star of the show up until now, practical, hands-on learning has come into the picture.”
From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2020
For medical students, this is the point at which, after two years of book learning, we rotate through hospital clerkships that give us our first experience of delivering hands-on care to inpatients.
From Washington Post • May 1, 2020
A man with a bad leg needed book learning to find his place.
From "Worth" by A. LaFaye
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.
