Word.ws English Dictionary

on the book

on the book prepositional phrase: acting as a prompter.

Prepositional phrase

  1. Acting as a prompter.
    • That was the “set-up” in the Venner Repertory Company, and I must state that they needed very few prompts, even on the first nights of which we had two a week! I was “on the book” , gave all the “lighting and effects signals” […]1954, Harald Melvill, Theatrecraft: The A to Z of Show Business, page 103
    • I was on the book in the prompt corner on stage right.2004, Michael Hallifax, Let Me Set the Scene, page 340

Questions about on the book

What does on the book mean?
On the book means acting as a prompter.
What part of speech is on the book?
On the book is a prepositional phrase.

Words near on the book in the dictionary

  1. on the blink
  2. on the blob
  3. on the block
  4. on the boil
  5. on the boob
  6. on the book
  7. on the books
  8. on the bounce
  9. on the bow
  10. on the brain
  11. on the breadline

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on the book (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “on the book.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/on_the_book. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.