playbook

[ pley-book ]

/ ˈpleɪˌbʊk /

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noun

(in Elizabethan drama) the script of a play, used by the actors as an acting text.

a book containing the scripts of one or more plays.

Football. a notebook containing descriptions of all the plays and strategies used by a team, often accompanied by diagrams, issued to players for them to study and memorize before the season begins.

Informal. any plan or set of strategies, as for outlining a campaign in business or politics.

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Origin of playbook

First recorded in 1525–35; play + book

Words nearby playbook

play a waiting game, playback, playback head, play ball, playbill, playbook, play both ends against the middle, playboy, playbroker, play by ear, play-by-play

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use playbook in a sentence

None of this would have happened if there was an accurate playbook from the federal government.
Confusion and chaos: Inside the vaccine rollout in D.C., Maryland and Virginia|Julie Zauzmer, Gregory S. Schneider, Erin Cox|February 9, 2021|Washington Post
They’ve published a playbook hinting at what a “safe” Games might look like.
Why South Africa stopped using the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine|Rahul Rao|February 8, 2021|Popular-Science
TV makers, including Samsung and Vizio, have seen this and, over the past few years, taken steps to follow the playbooks that Amazon and especially Roku wrote.
Smart TVs have become the new front in the connected TV platform battle|Tim Peterson|February 8, 2021|Digiday
Reid liked the idea so much he incorporated it into the playbook, after they had practiced it enough.
Patrick Mahomes has unmatched physical gifts. His intellect might be what sets him apart.|Sally Jenkins|February 5, 2021|Washington Post

He moved to a new city, learned a new playbook and bonded with new coaches.
A love for ‘Dragon Ball Z’ has infiltrated NFL locker rooms|Kyle Melnick|February 3, 2021|Washington Post
That was the playbook the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth used to discredit then-Sen.
The (Sloppy) Swift-Boating of Michigan Democrat Gary Peters|Tim Mak|October 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The last decent rom-coms came out in 2012: Silver Linings Playbook and The Five-Year Engagement.
The Romantic Comedy Is Dead|Andrew Romano|July 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
No shame and desperation to drive a teammate to hand over money or the playbook to a blackmailer.
Michael Sam Is Not a ‘Distraction’|Dave Cullen|February 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Intentionally or not, the Putin regime has followed the Berlin 1936 playbook quite closely for Sochi.
Putin’s Sochi and Hitler’s Berlin: The Love Affair Between Dictators and the Olympic Games.|Garry Kasparov|February 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His last film, Silver Linings Playbook, was also nominated in all four acting categories.
13 Oscar Nomination Shockers: Oprah, Tom Hanks, ‘Inside Llewyn Davis,’ and More|Marlow Stern|January 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Each had a playbook beside his plate, and they were apparently studying their parts for the morning performance.
Yellow-Cap and Other Fairy-Stories For Children|Julian Hawthorne
The fable, as set forth in the playbook, proved to be unworthy of the scenes and characters: what fable would not?
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume 9|Robert Louis Stevenson
This adventurous playbook, which had certainly done its duty, was originally picked up by its owner on Tower-hill.
Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1.|J Lort Stokes
I say unto thee a playhouse is the school for the old dragon, and a playbook the primer of Belzebub.
Wild Oats|John O'Keeffe
I should like to see existing a playbook of “Hamlet” which has been altered and shortened by a joint board of actors and scholars.
Shakespeare in the Theatre|William Poel

British Dictionary definitions for playbook

playbook

/ (ˈpleɪˌbʊk) /

noun

a book containing a range of possible set plays

a notional range of possible tactics in any sphere of activity

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

playbook

Origin of playbook

Words nearby playbook

Words related to playbook

How to use playbook in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for playbook