card index

American  

noun

• card indexes
  plural

1. a file or catalog consisting of cards on which information has been entered so that desired items or data can be readily found.

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card index British  

noun

1. an index in which each item is separately listed on systematically arranged cards

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verb

1. (tr) to make such an index of (a book)

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• card indexes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of card index

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

card index

It is also the only Met case still run on the 1980s card index system, kept in case a handwritten detail was ever overlooked.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

The letters poured in and Baxter set up a complicated card index system so children would get personal replies rather than a formatted letter.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025

Senior officials said some assets were on databases, but others were held on a separate card index, or even on handwritten inventories held only in specific historic properties.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 9, 2010

By 1917, as wartime spy-fever gripped Britain, roughly a quarter of a million people had been filed into MI5’s card index as suspicious persons.

From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2010

The clerk, intuitively sensing that the new arrival was one accustomed to having his wishes complied with, glanced at his card index.

From The Gray Phantom's Return by Landon, Herman