Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
reference book
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ As a visual aid to anatomical familiarity, a reference book such as this has undoubted value.
▪ If it is in a data or reference book, remember where, but forget the details until you need them.
▪ Make yourself a present of Silences and keep it by you as a reference book.
▪ Orthopaedic Disorders A good reference book, this well-illustrated and clearly practical text would be a useful resource on any orthopaedic ward.
▪ Rather, it serves as an eminently readable reference book for those considering a life in food biz.
Wiktionary
reference book
n. 1 A book providing factual information. 2 (context libraries English) such a book that may not be borrowed.
WordNet
reference book
n. a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts; "he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic" [syn: reference, reference work, book of facts]
Usage examples of "reference book".
It was a little like a clumsy person using a shod foot to find the right page in a tissue-paged reference book.
When and if I do so, if I am still in health, I hope to go far away to an address that will appear in no directory or reference book.
A door in the far wall opened to reveal a man in a medical coverall carrying a medikit, a docustat and a fat reference book.
You don't know the standard reference book-films, the quick methods of winnowing and skipping.