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

I keep a picture of that young boy now in my studio, one I cut out from a newspaper and mounted on an index card.

From Salon • Mar. 12, 2023

In an earlier iteration of our dating, I gave him a jade plant and a pink index card with instructions on how to care for it:

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2022

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

The following week, I brought the index card with me again.

From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin