playbook

[pley-book]

noun

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

2. a book containing the scripts of one or more plays.

3. 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.

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

playbook

/ ˈpleɪˌbʊk /

noun

1. a book containing a range of possible set plays

2. a notional range of possible tactics in any sphere of activity

Word History and Origins

Origin of playbook¹

First recorded in 1525–35; play + book

Example Sentences

And the old political playbook — confession, contrition, capitulation — is obviously no longer operative, as candidates find it not only possible but even advantageous to brazen their way through storms of uproar and opprobrium.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In American politics, that represented a fresh playbook.

Read more on Salon

Borrowing a page from London's playbook, authorities have also decided to split the municipal corporation into five smaller bodies and set up an overarching Greater Bengaluru Authority.

Read more on Barron's

But you can also borrow a page from the “yes, and” playbook to redirect their energy with grace.

Read more on Salon

Tourism is just one part of China's alleged playbook.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• article 
• book 
• copy 
• dialogue 
• libretto 
• manuscript 
• scenario 
• text