books

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of book.

   He packed his favorite books into a single battered suitcase.

   The store stacked discounted books near the entrance.

   Note

   A regular plural, made with -s, that carries every sense of the singular: bound volumes, long works such as novels, the major divisions of a long work, records of betting, even collections of small paper items bound like a book. The same spelling also serves as the third-person verb, so the surrounding words decide: in two books it is a noun, and in she books it is a verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of book.

   The agent books hotels and tours for the whole touring group.

   Whenever a band confirms a date, the venue books the support act too.

   Note

   Every sense of the verb runs through this form. A traveler books a flight, an officer books a suspect, a referee books a player, and in slang someone who books is moving very fast. The reserving and recording senses take an object; the slang one takes none, so "he really books" means speed, not reservations.

3. 3
   noun

   The written records in which a business's financial transactions are entered and tracked.

   Auditors examined the company's books for any sign of fraud.

   The treasurer balanced the books at the end of each quarter.

   Similaraccounts, records, ledgers

   Note

   In accounting the word works as a collective plural: a firm has books, not a book, and the whole set of records is meant. The usual verbs are working ones. You do this month's books when you enter the period's transactions, and you balance them at the close. A possessive or a time phrase in front (the company's books, this month's books) usually signals this sense rather than the plain plural.

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