paper book

paper book

English

Noun

paper book (plural paper books)

1. Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see paper,‎ book.
2. (law, England), A document prepared in English legal practice containing a record or summary of the pleadings.
3. A traditional hardback or softback book, as opposed to an e-book
   • 2002 Richard Curtis et al, "How to get your e-book published: an insider's guide to the world of ..."

     "Instead of cases of books moldering away in warehouses, your inventory consists of a single digital file, which any "bookmaking" machine can use to crank out a paper book."

   • 2003 Susan L.Gibbons et al, "E-book Functionality: What Libraries and Their Patrons Want and ..."

     "The evidence strongly indicates that libraries and end users expect e-books to have the same functionalities of the paper book, and yet do much more."

   • 2013 Joost Kircz et al, "The Unbound Book"

     "The link with the Internet disrupts the concentration that the paper book facilitates."

4. (dated) A paperback book.
   • 1919, The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer, Volume 51, page 11.

     Publishers of the paper books are uncertain whether their old reading public has tired of the motion picture or whether a new class of readers has arisen.

   • 1959, The Catholic Library World, Vols. 29-30, page 464.

     Even more important to those promoting paper books was the stark fact that there were not enough book stores to produce an adequate volume of sales to sustain quarter books.

   • 1959, Stores, Vol. 41, page 34.

     The ad—the first the department ran in more than three years—was inserted after the department had enlarged its space, using the additional area for paper books.

Related terms

• hard copy

Further reading

• paper book at OneLook Dictionary Search