reference book

SEE SYNONYMS FOR reference book ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a book containing useful facts or specially organized information, as an encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, yearbook, etc.
Also called pass, passbook. South African. a domestic identity document carried by black citizens.

Origin of reference book

First recorded in 1885–90

Words nearby reference book

refectory table, refel, refer, referee, reference, reference book, reference electrode, reference frame, reference group, reference mark, reference values

Words related to reference book

directory, almanac, thesaurus, dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas, wordbook

Example sentences from the Web for reference book

  • He declared that a writer who used such a reference-book ought to 116 be deprived of his paper and ink.

    Waiting for Daylight |Henry Major Tomlinson

  • Always make a point of entering the errata with a pencil in the margins of every reference-book that you acquire.

    The Book-Hunter at Home |P. B. M. Allan

British Dictionary definitions for reference book

reference book

noun

a book, such as an encyclopedia, dictionary, etc, from which information may be obtained
Southern African another name for passbook (def. 4)