playbook
Americannoun
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(in Elizabethan drama) the script of a play, used by the actors as an acting text.
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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.
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Informal. any plan or set of strategies, as for outlining a campaign in business or politics.
noun
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a book containing a range of possible set plays
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a notional range of possible tactics in any sphere of activity
Etymology
Origin of playbook
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.
“The playbook this year is much easier because it was the same as last year.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2026
But Nvidia is pulling from a playbook that has worked before.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
His winner five minutes later, though, was straight out of the Chester-born striker's playbook.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
As external accounts face mounting pressure amid the prolonged Middle East conflict, India’s dusting off a playbook used before to arrest non-essential demand, Barclays economists say.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
I wanted to talk to Coach in private, but he was writing in his playbook, probably making last-minute changes to our game plan while he ate his eggs.
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
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.
