bible

plural bibles

1. Alternative letter-case form of Bible (“a specific version, edition, translation, or copy of the Christian religious text”).

   1 more example

   [Editor David W. Blight said:] Deeply in need of father figures and spiritual hope, and “religiously seeking knowledge,” as he recalled it, the slave boy [the young Frederick Douglass] turned to a religious black man, a freeman named Charles Lawson, who worked as a drayman for a rope maker and lived on Happy Alley in Fells Point. Frederick spent countless hours with Lawson in the drayman’s shack reading the bible aloud, singing hymns, and praying together. “I could teach him the letter, but he could teach me the spirit,” Douglass remembered. Throughout his life Douglass would teach his teachers and learn from them at the same time. From old Lawson he gained […] above all […] a belief in a benevolent and protective God, the faith that his “life was under the guidance of a wisdom higher than my own.”

   1997 [1797], David W. Blight, “Editor's Introduction: The Peculiar Dialogue Between Caleb Bingham and Frederick Douglass”, in Caleb Bingham, edited by David W. Blight, The Columbian Orator, Bicentennial Edition (1997 republishing), New York University Press, →ISBN

2. Alternative letter-case form of Bible (“the analogous holy book of another religion”).

plural bibles

1. Alternative letter-case form of Bible (“a specific version, edition, translation, or copy of the Christian religious text”).

   The bible was used by Presley throughout his life until his death on 16 August 1977 and contains his handwritten notes, thoughts and annotations.

   2012 September 8, Cass Jones, “Elvis Presley's bible sells for £59,000”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 19 Jan 2024

   1 more example

   If a person should happen to meet them when on these journeys, he should, if he has not a bible in his pocket, draw a circle round him on the ground, and in God's name forbid their approach.

   1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 261

2. Alternative letter-case form of Bible (“the analogous holy book of another religion”).

   The Buddhist bible tells this story of Buddha’s time of temptation when he was living as a hermit on the Mount of Snow.

   1925, Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, A Daughter of the Samurai, page 76

3. broadlyA comprehensive manual that describes something, or a publication with a loyal readership; a foundational text.

   handyman’s bible

   4 more examples

   K&R is considered the bible of C programming

   Computer Lib was written as a popular primer, but its most profound effect was on computer programmers, who needed little persuasion about the value of computers. […] Having set out to appeal to the general public, Nelson managed to publish an insider's bible and highly intimate guide to hacker culture.

   1995 June, Gary Wolf, “The Curse of Xanadu”, in Wired Magazine, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2007

   For example, Wired—the monthly bible of the ‘virtual class’—has uncritically reproduced the views of Newt Gingrich, […]

   1995 September, Richard Barbrook, Andy Cameron, “The Californian Ideology”, in Mute, volume 1, number 3, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 May 2013

   This message resonated powerfully with the founders of Silicon Valley, including Steve Jobs, who described the [Whole Earth] Catalog as “one of the bibles of my generation.”

   2026 April 23, Alec Nevala-Lee, quoting Steve Jobs, “The Questionable Triumph of the ‘Baling Wire Hippies’”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC

4. abbreviationellipsisbroadcastingEllipsis of pitch bible.
5. lawA binder containing copies of the most important documents for a particular matter.

   Could you please add these to the case bible?

6. nauticalSynonym of holystone: a piece of sandstone used for scouring wooden decks on ships.

   Synonyms: holystone

7. at certain US universitiesA compilation of problems and solutions from previous years of a given course, used by some students to cheat on tests or assignments.

   My friend’s a genius, he will give me problems one through nine. The bible of a sophomore will have the needed lines.

   1965, Matt Fichtenbaum, Dan Murphy, “The Institute Screw”, in The Broadside of Boston, volume III, number 22

8. Omasum, the third compartment of the stomach of ruminants

   Synonyms: psalterium, omasum, manyplies, fardel

9. The upper part of a pin-tumbler lock, containing the driver pins and springs.

plural Bibles · alternative rare bible · alternative rare The Bible

1. Either of two major versions of the main religious text in the Judeo-Christian group of traditions.
   1. The main religious text in Christianity.

      Meronyms: Old Testament, New Testament

      5 more examples

      In my religion class we learn about the Bible, as well as religious texts of other religions.

      He spoke of the great demand for books. Had sold as many as fifty Bibles in one day. Has sold Bibles to nearly all the officials in the Nan-ch'ang prefecture and has several orders in hand for books of good binding.

      1898 October, “Missionary Conference held at Kuling, Central China, August 22nd to 25th, 1898”, in Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal, volume 39, number 10, page 496

      Many non-Christians regard portions of the Bible as “inspiring,” but they do not believe the Bible was “inspired by God” […]

      2009, Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology, page 16

      “They wave their Bibles at passersby, screaming their condemnations,” writes Kurt Eichenwald of evangelical Christians.

      2015 January 6, Rachel Held Evans, “What Newsweek gets wrong about evangelicals”, in CNN

      Second, the romance option brings up a unique issue: having sex with an alien. It’s somewhat difficult to say what the Christian should think on this issue because, well, the Bible doesn’t talk about aliens. Probably because they don’t exist (sorry to burst your bubble). Would this be considered bestiality? Or is it not bestiality since they are also beings capable of rational and ethical thought and self-reflection unlike usual animals?

      2019 October 31, Garrick Beckett, “Beckett: How BioWare Approaches Religion & Sexuality”, in The Lutheran Column, archived from the original on 17 Sep 2020, Blog

      Synonyms: Christian Bible, Holy Bible, Good Book, Book, word of God, word of life

   2. The Jewish holy book that was largely incorporated into the Christian Bible.

      Near-synonym: Old Testament (loosely synonymous)

      1 more example

      She's Jewish, but she doesn't read the Bible because she's not religious.

      Synonyms: Tanakh, Tanach, Jewish Bible, Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Scriptures, Hebrew-Aramaic Scriptures, Old Testament[Appendix:Glossary

2. The analogous holy book of another religion or belief system.

   He conveys to his foreign students the importance of the Qur'an by explaining that it is the Bible of Islam.

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   The cult's ideological substance was the popular digest dubbed by foreigners the Little Red Book or the Bible of Maoism.

   1977, Roxane Witke, Comrade Chiang Chʻing, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 360

3. broadlyThe principal important document of some area of skill or expertise.

   This technical handbook is the Bible of our trade.

plural Bibles · alternative bible

1. A specific version, edition, translation, or copy of one of the above-mentioned texts.

   He had just become able to read, with much effort, short sentences in his Bible, and was constantly engaged during his leisure hours in studying its pages.

   1842, A. D. Eddy, Black Jacob, page 38

   1 more example

   An American imprisoned for nearly six months in North Korea has admitted that he deliberately left a Bible in a nightclub, in one of his first major interviews since his release.[…]“I felt once I left the Bible somewhere that God would take it the rest of the way into the hands of some kind of Christian organisation, and I’d be able to waltz out of country fat, dumb and happy, no problem... But God had other plans.”

   2014 November 1, Tony Bonnici, “US tourist held in North Korea felt ‘compelled to leave Bible’”, in The Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Aug 2023

1. A surname originating as a matronymic.