Basic Details
Word: Book
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A set of printed or written pages fixed together inside a cover. As a verb, to book means to reserve a seat, room or ticket.
Synonyms: volume
How to Spell Book
Syllables: book
Tricky part: The short 'oo' sound is spelt with a double o, and the word ends in a plain k, not ck or c.
Watch out for: buk, bouk, boock
Memory tip: The two o's in book look like a pair of eyes reading the page.
Idioms and Phrases
- by the book: exactly according to the rules. Example: "Our referee does everything by the book, so no one argues with her decisions."
- read someone like a book: to understand easily what someone is thinking or feeling. Example: "Ma can read me like a book; she knew I was worried before I said a word."
Usage Examples
Example 1: Dad booked our train tickets to Jaipur two months early.
Example 2: I finished the whole Ruskin Bond book in one rainy afternoon.
Example 3: Please return the library book by Friday.
Fun Fact
UNESCO marks World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April, a date linked to the deaths of William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes in 1616.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. book 2. dictionery 3. biografy 4. encyclopidia
a) a book that lists words and their meanings in alphabetical order
b) a set of printed pages fixed inside a cover
c) a book or set of books giving facts on many subjects
d) the story of a person's life written by someone else
Show answer
b) a set of printed pages fixed inside a cover. All three reference words are misspelt: dictionary ends in -ary, encyclopedia (or encyclopaedia) has e after the p, biography has ph. Book is the correct one.
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) buklet
b) guidebok
c) bookmarck
d) bookkeeper
Show answer
d) bookkeeper. Bookkeeper looks odd with its double k and double e, but it is book + keeper; the others should be bookmark, guidebook and booklet.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to form the right word:
We had to okob our hotel room a month before the Pushkar fair.
a) boot
b) boom
c) book
d) brook
Show answer
c) book. Okob has two o's, a b and a k, and only book is made of those; to book a room is to reserve it.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In which sentence is book used as a verb?
a) This book is heavy.
b) The book fell off the shelf.
c) My book has a torn cover.
d) We must book the tickets tonight.
Show answer
d) We must book the tickets tonight.
2. A person who loves reading is often jokingly called a ____.
a) bookworm
b) bookend
c) booklet
d) bookmark
Show answer
a) bookworm
