telephone book

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telephone book

A man looks up a number in the telephone book.

Definition

Noun: A printed directory or book that contains an alphabetical list of telephone subscribers (people and businesses) within a specific area, along with their corresponding telephone numbers and often their addresses.

Usage

The term "telephone book" refers to the physical book published by a telephone company or directory service. It is used to look up contact information. * I found his address by looking him up in the telephone book. * Before the internet, everyone used a telephone book to find phone numbers. * The new telephone book was delivered to every house on the street.

Advanced Usage
  • "To be in the telephone book": To have one's name and number listed in the published directory.
    • Her number is private; she's not in the telephone book.
  • "As thick as a telephone book": An idiom used to describe something very thick or lengthy, often a book or document.
    • The report he wrote was as thick as a telephone book.
Variants and Related Words
  • Phone book (n): A common, shorter synonym for "telephone book."
  • Telephone directory (n): A more formal term with the same meaning.
  • White Pages (n): The section of a telephone book listing residential subscribers alphabetically by surname.
  • Yellow Pages (n): The section of a telephone book listing business subscribers categorically by the type of product or service, traditionally printed on yellow paper.
Synonyms
  • Directory
  • Phone directory
Related Idioms
  • "Let your fingers do the walking": A famous advertising slogan for the Yellow Pages, encouraging people to use the telephone book to find businesses instead of physically going to search for them.
telephone book

A man looks up a number in the telephone book.

Noun
  1. a directory containing an alphabetical list of telephone subscribers and their telephone numbers