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
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Social time is at 10 a.m. followed by the book discussion at 10:30 a.m.
—
Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2025
Inspired by the book ‘Cooking for Kings: The Life of Antonin Carême, The First Celebrity Chef’ by historian and actor Ian Kelly, Carême is created by Kelly and Davide Serino.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 5 Feb. 2025
There’s often some kind of hitch, but still, most agents are straight arrows who play by the book.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 5 Feb. 2025
That stuffy chief who has been doing things by the book his whole career and has had it up to here with our loose-cannon shenanigans?
—Brian Grubb, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2025
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Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2025
Inspired by the book ‘Cooking for Kings: The Life of Antonin Carême, The First Celebrity Chef’ by historian and actor Ian Kelly, Carême is created by Kelly and Davide Serino.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 5 Feb. 2025
There’s often some kind of hitch, but still, most agents are straight arrows who play by the book.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 5 Feb. 2025
That stuffy chief who has been doing things by the book his whole career and has had it up to here with our loose-cannon shenanigans?
—Brian Grubb, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for by the book
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Cite this Entry
“By the book.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/by%20the%20book. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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