white pages

IPA/wˈaɪt pˈeɪdʒɪz/
IPA/wˈaɪt pˈeɪdʒᵻz/

white pages — noun

1. A list of people and companies with their phone numbers and addresses, usually p

1.nounB1
Definition

A list of people and companies with their phone numbers and addresses, usually printed in a book or available online, arranged from A to Z.

Example

Bao looked up the flower shop's phone number in the white pages for Taipei.

Before the internet, every home in the city received a new white pages book each year.

historical contrast: 'before the internet' vs 'each year'

Common collocations
  • look up [someone] in the white pages
  • check the white pages
  • online white pages
  • white pages directory
  • the white pages for [city/area]
Synonyms
  • telephone directory

    A broader and more formal term that may include both white pages and yellow pages sections.

  • phone book

    Informal; describes the physical book itself rather than the specific alphabetical listing section.

Antonyms
  • yellow pages

    A separate section listing businesses by industry category rather than alphabetically by name.

Usage Note

Distinguish from the yellow pages, which lists businesses by industry category rather than alphabetically by name.

Common Mistakes

Let me check the white page for their number.
Let me check the white pages for their number.
The term always keeps the plural 's', even when referring to a single book.

Etymology

English

The name comes from the white paper that telephone companies traditionally used to print the alphabetical residential and general listings, as opposed to the yellow paper used for business category listings. The term became widely used in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s as telephone directories grew in size.

First known use

1952

1952, in the meaning defined above