handbook
Americannoun
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a book of instruction or guidance, as for an occupation; manual.
a handbook of radio.
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a guidebook for travelers.
a handbook of Italy.
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a reference book in a particular field.
a medical handbook.
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a scholarly book on a specific subject, often consisting of separate essays or articles.
a handbook of lectures on criticism.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of handbook
Translation of German Handbuch
Explanation
A handbook is a guide or list of instructions on one particular subject. A new car comes with a handbook explaining how its controls work and giving tips for problems that arise. Sometimes new parents wish their newborn infant came with a handbook. A handbook is a type of reference book, offering information about a topic or a machine. Your bird handbook might include pictures of birds in your region, and the handbook that came with your blender will tell you how to use it and also might include several smoothie recipes. In Old English, it was handboc, though in Middle English this was replaced by manual, thought at the time to be a much prettier word.
Vocabulary lists containing handbook
Reading: Informational - Middle School
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Reading: Informational - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
You could pick that wording right out of the Premier League handbook.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
I want to add that if comments about your appearance persist, you might want to consult your employee handbook and ask HR.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 28, 2026
But NAR said Monday that its 2026 handbook for MLSes won’t recommend that local databases mandate membership for the agents who use it.
From Barron's ● Nov. 17, 2025
What use is an employee handbook, or a memo from the CEO, if everyone can’t see it?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2025
“This is the Creekwood handbook, which you should have read and signed at the beginning of the year.”
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
That includes First Choice’s handbooks for volunteers, training materials, and agreements such as the statements of faith that employees must uphold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025
The lawyers invoked an array of dictionaries, grammar usage guides, statutory drafting manuals, and handbooks for reading law, one of which was co-authored by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
From Slate ● Oct. 2, 2023
Taken up by the social-dance industry, it was codified, taught in handbooks and neighborhood studios — and, unlike its early years, slotted into the strictly gendered roles of traditional ballroom dancing.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2023
Eventually we will meet Christopher Walken as Burt, head of Optics and Design, which hangs those paintings and creates the “handbook tote bags,” a sort of joke, since handbooks can’t be taken anywhere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2022
At the other end of the table were various histories, theoretical treatises and practical handbooks on landscape gardening.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
