A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

Book of Psalms, the • psalm-book
Book of Psalms, the —the book of the Old Testament con-
taining the Psalms: The Book of Psalms contains the produc-
tions of different writers. These are called however the Psalms
of David, because a great part of them were composed by him.
psalm-book —a book containing the Psalms, especially with
metrical settings arranged for use in public worship: See this
bundle of ballads…. I wheedled an old woman out of these,
who loved them better than her psalm-book.
book of words • word-book
book of words —(coll.) printed instructions (not necessarily
in a book form): I can’t quite see how to put this thing to-
gether. Where’s the book of words?
word-book —
1
. a list of words with meanings, etc.: It would,
however, seem almost necessary to emphasize that this Word-
Book is not a dictionary of school slang. 2. libretto of a musical
composition: Besides translating many foreign libretti, Chor-
ley wrote the original word-books of one version of the
“Amber Witch.”
book someone in • bring someone to book
book someone in —
1
. (also: sign someone in) record the en-
trance of an employee, the name of a guest on arrival at a
hotel, etc.: I’ll just book you in and then you can have a rest.
2. make an entry of a person’s name, etc. in a police register
following detention: If you are taken into police custody, you
will be booked in by the duty police officer.
Note:
The expression is not equivalent in meaning to the phrase
book someone
—(Police) charge a person with a legal offence: He
was booked for speeding and driving without a licence.
bring someone to book —call smb. to account; make a person
responsible for doing smth. wrong: They must have had pow-
erful supporters, for little attempt seems to have been made
to bring them to book.