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interlibrary loan

American  

noun

  1. a system by which one library obtains a work for a user by borrowing it from another library.

  2. a loan made by this system.

interlibrary loan British  
/ ˌɪntəˈlaɪbrərɪ /

noun

  1. a system by which libraries borrow publications from other libraries

    1. an instance of such borrowing

    2. a publication so borrowed

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of interlibrary loan

First recorded in 1925–30; inter- + library

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.