textbook

[ tekst-book ]

See synonyms for textbook on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

adjective

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

Origin of textbook

First recorded in 1720–30; text + book

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use textbook in a sentence

Such is the difference between life in the civic textbooks and life in tea-party America.
The GOP Could Make Obama Kill Obamacare | Michael Tomasky | November 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
I kept them stacked between my high school math and social studies textbooks.
The Power of Queer Books | Hugh Ryan, Sassafras Lowrey | August 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Some of my essays are published in college textbooks—maybe he flunked a test and hated me for it?
How I (Digitally) Killed My Twitter Impostor | JoBeth McDaniel | July 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Textbooks in China contain little information about what happened, if any.
The Tiananmen Square Museum That’s Shocking China’s Tourists | Brendon Hong | May 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
What they did have were out-of-date textbooks, leaky roofs, and no heat.
Bigotry Is Back, 60 Years After Brown v. Board of Education | Dean Obeidallah | May 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

There is something on your mind beside your textbooks, that is very sure, Miss Morse.
The Girls of Central High on the Stage | Gertrude W. Morrison
There were a number of contracts with publishers covering the copyrights in Kelton's mathematical and astronomical textbooks.
A Hoosier Chronicle | Meredith Nicholson
And there was no one, with the exception of George Ord, who had studied as many textbooks as he had.
Space Prison | Tom Godwin
It had been one of the old textbooks, printed on real paper, and it was fragile with age.
Space Prison | Tom Godwin
After putting aside his textbooks he entered the service of a railroad company and continued in that line of work for six years.
Lyman's History of old Walla Walla County, Vol. 2 (of 2) | William Denison Lyman

British Dictionary definitions for textbook

textbook

/ (ˈtɛkstˌbʊk) /

noun

- a book used as a standard source of information on a particular subject
- (as modifier): a textbook example

Derived forms of textbook

textbookish, adjective

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

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