passbook
Americannoun
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a bankbook.
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(formerly) a small book or ledger for each customer in which a merchant keeps a record of goods sold on credit and the amounts owed and paid.
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South African. reference book.
noun
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a book for keeping a record of withdrawals from and payments into a building society
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another name for bankbook
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a customer's book in which is recorded by a trader a list of credit sales to that customer
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(formerly in South Africa) an official document serving to identify the bearer, his race, his residence, and his employment
Etymology
Origin of passbook
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.
Mr. Dell told the Journal he had $8 in a passbook savings account as an eight-year old and enjoyed watching it grow.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 2, 2025
South Africans used to go to collect a passbook, or a "dompas", that controlled where they could travel.
From BBC • Sep. 2, 2023
But the bank’s blue passbook also gave Roy dignity, a sense of being part of society, a feeling of equality with other Indians, and the power to make her own decisions.
From The Guardian • Dec. 6, 2017
Early in the novel we learn that one day during Anna’s adolescence, Eddie vanished, leaving behind an envelope of cash and the passbook for a previously undisclosed bank account.
From Slate • Oct. 10, 2017
As she steadied me she continued asking, “Where’s my passbook? Where is it?”
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
