card catalog

American

noun

a file of cards of uniform size arranged in some definite order and listing the items in the collection of a library or group of libraries, each card typically identifying a single item.

Etymology

Origin of card catalog

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The jury threw not just the book at him, but the entire library, including the shelves and the card catalog:

From Salon • Dec. 17, 2023

"We show that there is basically a card catalog available," Heath added.

From Science Daily • Oct. 25, 2023

Nervously, I looked around as I gathered the courage to walk over to the card catalog.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 2, 2023

He described it as almost being like a digital card catalog, saying the company does not store photos or individual face templates but rather URLs for individual images associated with the facial features they contain.

From New York Times • May 26, 2022

And when I got confused when Mrs. Rouse was explaining about the online card catalog, Betsy didn’t make fun of me.

From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023