by the book

idiom

: by following the official rules very strictly

My boss insists on doing everything by the book.

Examples of by the book in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Always do everything by the book and follow all of Amazon’s terms of service. —

Duffy Young, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024 Breaking into the music business, crafting insanely addictive earworm hits, recognizing genre boundaries, starting a streetwear fashion line, wearing properly sized ranger hats — Pharrell Williams has never done anything by the book. —

David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 Oct. 2024 Naomi Otsu x 831 Stories Mischief T-Shirt $35 831 Stories An 831 Stories T-shirt inspired by the book, Big Fan. —

Anna Moeslein, Glamour, 11 Sep. 2024 The show was inspired by the book of the same name written by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. —

Joe Otterson, Variety, 16 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for by the book