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loose-leaf

[loos-leef]
adjective
  1. (of a book, notebook, etc.) consisting of individual leaves held in a binder (loose-leaf binder), as by rings that open and close, in such a way as to allow their removal, return, or replacement without tearing.
  2. of or for use with a loose-leaf binder: loose-leaf paper.
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Origin of loose-leaf

First recorded in 1900–05
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for loose-leaf

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • A loose-leaf book is preferred by some people for inventories and accounts.

  • To enable the debater to use a loose-leaf system of note-taking.

  • Lem removed a slip from his loose-leaf book and tendered it to Bart.

  • The rest of it sounded like something one reads at the foot of each page of a loose-leaf desk calendar.

    Fanny Herself

    Edna Ferber

  • He sent Eleanor a handsome tooled-leather portfolio to hold his letters, which he wrote on loose-leaf sheets and mailed unfolded.

    Quin

    Alice Hegan Rice

British Dictionary definitions for loose-leaf

loose-leaf

adjective
  1. (of a binder, album, etc) capable of being opened to allow removal and addition of pages
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noun
  1. a serial publication published in loose leaves and kept in such a binder
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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

Word Origin and History for loose-leaf

adj.

1899, from loose (adj.) + leaf (n.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper