textbook

1 of 2

noun

text·book ˈteks(t)-ˌbu̇k

Synonyms of textbook next

: a book used in the study of a subject: such as

: one containing a presentation of the principles of a subject

: a literary work relevant to the study of a subject

textbook

2 of 2

adjective

: of, suggesting, or suitable to a textbook

especially : classic

a textbook example of bureaucratic waste

Example Sentences

Noun one shelf in my bookcase is crammed full of my old college textbooks Adjective a textbook example of a film that captures the feel of the novel on which it is based

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

With ESAs, Texas families would receive about $8,000 per K–12 student annually to pay for private-school tuition, tutoring, textbooks, online courses, special-needs therapy, and numerous other educational expenses. —

Matthew Ladner, National Review, 15 May 2023 The board adopted new textbooks for health, advanced statistics and elementary math classes. —

Laura Groch, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 May 2023 Left unmentioned in Hinds-Radix’s March 22 testimony was any reference to Jawaun Fraser, whose case provided an almost textbook example of her department’s hardball approach, a strategy that confounded even the judge overseeing the lawsuit. —

Jake Pearson, ProPublica, 27 Apr. 2023 The answer, according to biology textbooks, is that the plan is contained in the cells' DNA, encoded by genes. —

Philip Ball, Scientific American, 18 Apr. 2023 Nothing beats a good old-fashioned backpack for lugging your textbooks, your sports gear, and your emotional support water bottle(s) from home to school to your bestie’s house. —

seventeen.com, 13 Apr. 2023 In elementary school textbooks, Domínguez saw illustrations by Mexican painters such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco and Rufino Tamayo. —

Imelda García, Dallas News, 12 Apr. 2023 Now that Liam has been praised for the find, Ms. Porter said her students have been searching through all of their textbooks looking for errors. —

Amanda Holpuch, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2023 Pearson started his social justice advocacy early while still in high school, demanding textbooks from the local board of education and becoming a prominent member of the debate team. —

Andrew Jeong, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2023

Adjective

But for some of these patients, the cause of their seemingly textbook mental issues isn’t from an anomaly of brain chemistry or function, but from Lyme disease – the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S. —

Matt Benoit, Discover Magazine, 22 June 2022 Guyton, the second Black woman to host A Capitol Fourth after Vanessa Williams, recognizes that her own swift and dramatic rise to stardom after years of dues-paying and nearly quitting performing entirely is a textbook American success story. —

Scott Huver, PEOPLE.com, 1 July 2022 At the same time, solutions borrowed from textbook European nation-states are unlikely to serve us well. —

Samuel Goldman, The Week, 22 Sep. 2021 The vegan ramen was originally developed for Afuri’s Portland, Ore., location with the goal of being a lighter, decidedly non-textbook option. —

Flora Tsapovsky, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Sep. 2021 When she was discovered, her gender identity was conflated with her identity as a criminal, which is totally textbook. —

Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 27 Aug. 2021 Having a bunch of Boomers in a closed environment for long periods of time isn’t exactly textbook social distancing. —

Chuck Carlton, Dallas News, 15 Mar. 2020 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'textbook.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.