plural playbooks
American football
: a book that contains descriptions of the different offensive and defensive plays that are used by a team
He studied the new plays in the team's playbook.
—often used figuratively in U.S. EnglishThey began to fight the war using the enemy's playbook.
The competition beat us using a play straight from our own playbook.
Cite this Entry
“Playbook.” Merriam-Webster.com Simple Definition, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/simple/playbook. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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