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

The playbook is clear, though it will take time, Gertz says.

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One venture firm is applying that playbook to how it invests.

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The change was a dramatic departure from the archetype of the all-powerful football coach, whose dominion extended from the playbook to high-school recruiting.

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He turned upside-down the traditional playbook for solving international crises, in which diplomats work behind the scenes to iron out differences between warring parties, before world leaders swoop in and announce a deal.

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The stunt was pulled off by activists aiming to save the reactor, taking a page from the antinuclear playbook of Greenpeace and other groups who long sought to close it.

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Related Words

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