phone book
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of phone book
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
I wouldn’t pay to hear her read the proverbial phone book, but I might shell out to hear her sing it, while cracking jokes in between vocalizing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 10, 2025
DNS, which stands for Domain Name System, is often likened to a phone book for the internet.
From BBC • Oct. 20, 2025
And fortunately there was a phone book inside of it.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2025
Mostly, it was just very boring, an opinion seemingly shared by Mark Wahlberg, who sounded like he was reading out of the phone book during his prayers.
From Salon • Apr. 18, 2025
When we get home, my mom looks up prosthetists in the phone book, and what she discovers is that if we are going to stay local, Hank Kruber is our only choice.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
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.
