chapter and verse

noun

1

: the exact reference or source of information or justification for an assertion

clinched their arguments by citing chapter and verse

—J. M. Burns

2

: full precise information or detail

can give chapter and verse on the effects of diverting defense spending

—Horace Sutton

chapter and verse adverb

Examples of chapter and verse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many New Yorkers can cite chapter and verse about the African Burial Ground National Monument in downtown Manhattan near City Hall, but only a few know about the burial grounds and segregated Black cemeteries scattered throughout New York City’s boroughs. —Herb Boyd, New York Daily News, 1 Feb. 2025

Anyway, by late 1974, when the Woodward–Bernstein book was published, everyone knew the Watergate story chapter and verse, and Nixon had been safely packed away down the memory hole. —Yiyun Li, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024

That’s chapter and verse in many, many, of his films, most recently in Pain and Glory. —Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Sep. 2024

The chapter and verse of his record is not sympathetic reading, though his mother, 67, tries to understand. —Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 3 Mar. 2024

To get chapter and verse, go here, for example. —Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 3 Mar. 2023

All Italians know the scene chapter and verse. —Sam Sacks, WSJ, 23 Sep. 2022

Or chapter and verse in a holy book. —Steve Hochman, SPIN, 22 Sep. 2022

When the legacy media wanted to bury the Hunter Biden laptop story and (this still holds true) discount the evidence of Biden-family corruption, Andy McCarthy would have none of it and, as usual, knew the case chapter and verse. —Rich Lowry, National Review, 27 Feb. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1628, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for chapter and verse

• monodisperse
• adverse
• averse
• coerce
• disburse
• disperse
• diverse
• immerse
• inverse
• obverse
• perverse
• rehearse