notebook

American  

[noht-book] / ˈnoʊtˌbʊk /

noun

1. a book of notes.

   They checked the sergeant's notebook for clues to his whereabouts.

2. a book or binder of blank, often ruled, pages on which to write, especially one used by students to take notes in class.

3. a book in which promissory notes are entered, registered, recorded, etc.

4. Digital Technology. a small, lightweight laptop computer.

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notebook British  

/ ˈnəʊtˌbʊk /

noun

1. a book for recording notes or memoranda

2. a book for registering promissory notes

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Etymology

Origin of notebook

First recorded in 1570–80; note + book

Explanation

A notebook is a blank book that you can write in. Students often carry notebooks, where they can take notes (and doodle). The pages in a notebook are often lined, so that you can write neatly. You might keep one for writing to-do lists or thoughts (like a journal), or your notebooks might all be large binders full of class notes and math problems. Notebooks can be bound like books, or with a spiral metal or plastic binding, or consist of loose pages in a three-ring binder. Another, newer kind of notebook is a slim, lightweight laptop computer.

Example Sentences

From time to time, he’d scribble in a small spiral notebook.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

Phillips slid off her yellow Huffy cruiser, grabbed a pen, and entered the finding into her spiral notebook.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026

Corning makes the glass for notebook computers, desktop monitors, televisions, and other information display applications.

From Barron's • Apr. 16, 2026

On a notebook on her coffee table, she wrote Cynthia Renee Ortiz, doodling hearts around her prospective married name.

From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026

The drawing’s not large—about half a sheet of notebook paper—but every inch is covered in pale green whorls and squiggles.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

Related Words

• binder
• diary
• journal
• pad