Order Book
The exchange's live record of all unexecuted buy and sell limit orders in a security, ranked by price and then by time.
How it is identified
Test: an order rests in the book until it is matched, modified, cancelled, or expires at the session close
Unit
qualitative
In depth
The order book is the market — there is no separate 'price', only the set of resting intentions and the trades that occur when two of them cross. Exchanges publish the top five price levels on each side, so what you see is a slice, and large participants deliberately keep size out of it using iceberg orders. Because the book is a snapshot of intentions, not commitments held to term, it can empty in seconds; reading a deep book as safety is a mistake. Market orders consume the book, limit orders add to it, which is the whole distinction between taking and providing liquidity.
Worked example
A book shows 3,000 shares bid across five levels and 12,000 offered. That imbalance can look bearish, but any of those sell orders can be cancelled before they trade, so it describes the present moment rather than the next one.
Illustrative figures, chosen so the arithmetic is easy to follow. Not a live price and not a valuation of any company.
Educational reference only
This entry explains what “Order Book” means. It is not investment advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Any numbers above are illustrative, not live prices, and nothing here predicts price direction or rates a stock. Consider your own circumstances and consult a SEBI-registered investment adviser before acting.