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reference book

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noun

a book containing useful facts or specially organized information, as an encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, yearbook, etc.
Also called pass, passbook. South African. a domestic identity document carried by black citizens.

Origin of reference book

First recorded in 1885–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for reference book

directory, almanac, thesaurus, dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas, wordbook

Examples from the Web for reference book

Historical Examples of reference book

  • He declared that a writer who used such a reference-book ought to 116 be deprived of his paper and ink.

    Waiting for Daylight

    Henry Major Tomlinson

  • Always make a point of entering the errata with a pencil in the margins of every reference-book that you acquire.

British Dictionary definitions for reference book

reference book

noun

a book, such as an encyclopedia, dictionary, etc, from which information may be obtained
Southern African another name for passbook (def. 4)
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