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Synonyms

notebook

American  
[noht-book] / ˈnoʊtˌbʊk /

noun

  • notebooks
    plural
  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.


notebook British  
/ ˈnəʊtˌbʊk /

noun

  1. a book for recording notes or memoranda

  2. a book for registering promissory notes

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

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.

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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:

There is also a notebook on the table with a list of words scribbled down by Ferguson when he used to address his players.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

Wu circles, counting, smoking, jotting down numbers in his spiral notebook.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

One day, I saw my older sister carefully burning the edges of a blank notebook.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026

She already had the beauty and brains, all she’d need was an alias, a leotard and a notebook.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Did she keep a notebook full of complicated diagrams?

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

At Boulder Bookstore, there’s more than just good reads—look for decorative bookends and notebooks handmade from antique book covers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

A July trip to Target to get everything on her list — among the items, two packs of wired headphones, Band-Aids, eight folders and four composition notebooks — cost about $230.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026

Detectives found notebooks containing “concerning statements” and two radio signal devices.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Text books, notebooks, pens and markers lay scattered across his bed and study table.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

In the office, Marco gathers up fallen notebooks and papers with trembling hands.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

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