reference works

Cultural  

1. Books and other works that contain useful facts and information, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and bibliographies.

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Example Sentences

His walls are lined with shelves of well-thumbed books, from his childhood comic collection to reference works on art and anthropology, Victoriana and zoology.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2024

General reference works provide background information and basic facts about a topic.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

Its storage disks were filled with digitized reference works, Wikipedia entries and electronic books.

From New York Times • Jul. 16, 2021

While discussing some classic reference works, the polymath Guy Davenport extolled the detail and clarity of the Century’s engraved, thumbnail-sized illustrations.

From Washington Post • Sep. 30, 2020

In fact, these reference works, with their careful attention to history, literature, and actual usage, are the most adamant debunkers of grammatical nonsense.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker