textbook

[ tekst-book ]

noun

1. a book used by students as a standard work for a particular branch of study.

adjective

1. pertaining to, characteristic of, or seemingly suitable for inclusion in a textbook; typical; classic:

   a textbook case.

textbook

/ ˈtɛkstˌbʊk /

noun

1. 1. a book used as a standard source of information on a particular subject
   2. ( as modifier )

      a textbook example

Derived Forms

• ˈtextˌbookish, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of textbook¹

First recorded in 1720–30; text + book

Example Sentences

One of them told VOSD she started receiving hundreds of dollars in water bills this spring and said she had to use her child’s college textbook money to try and cover them.

From Voice of San Diego

The nonfiction books of today are not the textbooks of yesteryear.

From Washington Post

Walking through the marble halls of Congress is far more powerful than reading about the institution in textbooks.

From Washington Post

Amy Wilson, 29, an architect based in Washington state, has a textbook pandemic job-loss story.

From Washington Post

Her detailed virus photos have appeared in textbooks and science articles.

From Washington Post

That was exactly as they were listed in the textbook, and that was how Jackson wanted it.

From The Daily Beast

The stakes are high: A Texas state adoption of a textbook means a very lucrative sale.

From The Daily Beast

Now the SBOE is considering what textbook publishers have produced in response to the TEKS requirements.

From The Daily Beast

The Vietnam War offers textbook cases about what pictures can do to shape our understanding.

From The Daily Beast

Therefore we lack the typical medical textbook level of detail that helps us anticipate the next problem.

From The Daily Beast

Were that the case, we might be right in questioning its superiority over our method of teaching by textbook.

From Project Gutenberg

It is not the purpose of this volume to offer a mere textbook or a scholastic essay on historical events.

From Project Gutenberg

I can see him nosing it all out in some textbook that was out of date when he was a student.

From Project Gutenberg

A textbook of diagnosis and prognosis for all concerned in understanding offenders.

From Project Gutenberg

If the reader wishes to know something about these frequencies, such information can be found in a textbook on physics.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• workbook