index card

American  

noun

index cards plural

1. a card, often relatively small, as 3 × 5 inches (7.6 × 12.7 centimeters), used in noting or recording information and usually filed in an index.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• index cards
  plural

Etymology

Origin of index card

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

When the NFL draft begins on Thursday night, Commissioner Roger Goodell will hardly need to glance at an index card to know that the Raiders intended to use the first overall pick on Mendoza.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

At times during the season, when multiple players were on minutes limits, Lue was asked to coach off an index card that outlined preferred rotation patterns.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2023

I’m more focused when taking a moment to jot something down, whether it’s making a to-do list and outline in my notebook or creating an up-to-the-minute morning routine on an index card.

From The Verge • Aug. 3, 2022

Photographers snapped the president holding up the outward-facing index card during a brief press availability in the Roosevelt Room to kick off the meeting.

From Washington Times • Jun. 24, 2022

His bookshelves, the Delaware Valley Raptor Sanctuary calendar with Braviary’s release circled in red marker, even the index card that he thinks she doesn’t know he has.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers