Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of book.
  • noun (accounting) Accounting records.
  • verb Third-person singular simple present indicative form of book.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word books.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • 'There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book. Books are well-written, or poorly written. That is all.' -Oscar Wilde, in the author's preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray.

    February 20, 2008

  • "* 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school

    * 42% of college graduates never read another book

    * 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year

    * 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years"

    -(source Jeff Jarvis)

    August 15, 2008

  • I wonder how accurate those statistics are.

    August 15, 2008

  • I wonder what the stats are for other countries too. Or if the word "book" was not so lonely, and the questions addressed reading of periodicals, Internet news sites, etc.... if that would change the results.

    Usually these things are compiled by politically motivated groups of one kind or another.

    Because you know, 27% of statistics are made up on the spot.

    August 15, 2008

  • I'm as sceptical as anyone about literacy in the US (and other countries), but those stats look dodgy to me. Can you give us a link, bilby?

    cb, recent studies have suggested that the percentage of statistics made up on the spot is closer to 35.

    August 15, 2008

  • Yarb, I had heard it was as high as 83%, but frankly I just don't trust that statistic. For all I know, it could've been made up on the spot.

    August 15, 2008

  • Did you guys know that only 43.5% of statistics made up on the spot are correct?

    August 16, 2008

  • Gah, was all set to post the link yesterday and mango forgot. Will try to find again. For what its worth, the stats look like rubbish to me. What does '80% of families' mean anyway? First you'd need to define families. Then, what if one of two children reads books, the other child and the parents don't ... do they qualify as a 'did not read or buy a book' family or not? There are probably lots of kinds of stores that 70% of adults might not go to in any five year period so I find that stat outright unimpressive.

    Ok, got it, it's buried among all kinds of book stats on this page. Stats quoted have a link to the source underneath. In the case of the stats in question I fished around the Jenkins sites a bit but couldn't find a full write up.

    For the record, 67.38% of my comments are pish-tosh.

    August 16, 2008

  • "*58% of Wordies have read 3 books in the past two weeks.

    *42% of Wordies skipped their college graduation ceremony to read a book.

    *80% of Wordie families have spent more than $500 on books in the last year.

    *70% of Wordies have not been in a bookstore in the last five days."

    -(source me)

    August 19, 2008

  • "One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.�?

    - George W. Bush.

    October 29, 2008

  • Bush is right. That is one of the great things about books.

    October 29, 2008

  • Classic.

    There needs to be a list of Bushisms.

    My favourite is: "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."

    October 29, 2008

  • There is one - see misunderestimate (I'm using a pocket device).

    October 29, 2008

  • Every potential wordie list is an existing wordie list :D

    November 1, 2008