"book" Definition

Definitions for the word "book" from multiple English dictionaries.

1. n.
1 a written or printed work with pages bound along one side. B work intended for publication. 2 bound blank sheets for notes, records, etc. 3 bound set of tickets, stamps, matches, etc. 4 (in pl.) Set of records or accounts. 5 main division of a large literary work. 6 telephone directory. 7 colloq. Magazine. 8 libretto, script, etc. 9 record of bets. v. 1 a (also absol.) Reserve (a seat etc.) In advance. B engage (an entertainer etc.). 2 a take the personal details of (an offender or rule-breaker). B enter in a book or list. book in register at a hotel etc. Book up 1 buy tickets in advance. 2 (as booked up) with all places reserved. Bring to book call to account. Go by the book proceed by the rules. In a person''s good (or bad) books in (or out of) favour with a person. [old english]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
2. slang
an arrangement of bets against certain horses marked in a pocket-book made for that purpose. “Making a BOOK upon it,” is a common phrase to denote that a man is prepared to lay the odds against the horses in a race. “That does not suit my BOOK,” _i.e._, does not accord with my other arrangements. The principle of making a BOOK, or betting round, as it is sometimes termed, is to lay a previously-determined sum against every horse in the race, or as many horses as possible; and should the bookmaker “get round,” _i.e._, succeed in laying against as many horses as will more than balance the odds laid, he is certain to be a winner. The BOOKMAKER is distinguished from the backer by its being his particular business to bet against horses, or to lay, while the backer, who is also often a professional gambler, stands by the chance of a horse, or the chances of a set of horses about which he supposes himself to be possessed of special information. A bookmaker rarely backs horses for his own particular fancy—he may indeed put a sovereign or a fiver on an animal about which he has been told something, but as a rule if he specially fancies a horse, the bookmaker lets him “run for the BOOK,” _i.e._, does not lay against him. When a bookmaker backs a horse in the course of his regular business, it is because he has laid too much against him, and finds it convenient to share the danger with other bookmakers.
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864

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