index card

American  

noun

• index cards
  plural

1. a card, often relatively small, as 3 × 5 inches (7.6 × 12.7 centimeters), used in noting or recording information and usually filed in an index.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• index cards
  plural

Etymology

Origin of index card

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

index card

When the NFL draft begins on Thursday night, Commissioner Roger Goodell will hardly need to glance at an index card to know that the Raiders intended to use the first overall pick on Mendoza.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

I wrote this on an index card and kept it in my backpack throughout college to constantly remind me of the goal because being an environmentalist can be discouraging, given the current climate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2024

I keep a picture of that young boy now in my studio, one I cut out from a newspaper and mounted on an index card.

From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2023

Photographers snapped the president holding up the outward-facing index card during a brief press availability in the Roosevelt Room to kick off the meeting.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 24, 2022

My hands, the index card, my expired passport, dissolved into ripples.

From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin