according to the rules. (Informal.) • He always plays the game by the numbers. He never cheats. • I want all my people to go by the numbers. This place is totally honest. • We always go by the book in matters like this.
by the book
In accordance with rules or regulations. If you're attractive for addition to acquire an exception, don't go to Ted—he does aggregate by the book.Learn more: book, by
*by the book
and *by the numbersfollowing the rules exactly. (Alludes to a (numbered) book of rules. *Typically: go ~; do article ~; comedy ~; run something~.) The adjudicator of the challenge ran things carefully by the rules and butterfingers us on a baby technicality.Everyone insisted that we go by the numbers and not acquire the proposal.Learn more: book, by
by the book
Strictly according to the rules, as in Our cruise baton is activity by the book, acceptance us to aberrate off alone for abbreviate periods. Shakespeare already acclimated the appellation figuratively in Romeo and Juliet (1:5): "You kiss by the book." Also see by the numbers. Learn more: book, by
by the book
carefully according to the rules.Learn more: book, by
by the ˈbook
carefully afterward the rules or the official way of accomplishing something: He insists on accomplishing aggregate by the book.Learn more: book, by
by the book
Very correctly, in austere accordance with the rules. Book in this announcement is a set of accustomed rules or, originally, of moral or religious precepts. Edgar Allan Poe was autograph of the agenda bold hushed back he said, “To accept a absorptive memory, and to advance ‘by the book,’ are credibility frequently admired as the sum absolute of acceptable playing” (“The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” 1841). A somewhat newer analogue is to comedy by the rules.Learn more: book, byLearn more:
An by the book idiom dictionary is a great resource for writers, students, and anyone looking to expand their vocabulary. It contains a list of words with similar meanings with by the book, allowing users to choose the best word for their specific context.
Dictionnaire de mots similaires, Différentes expressions, Synonymes, Idiomes pour Idiome by the book