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

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

Conservatives on campus can give you chapter and verse. —Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 11 Jan. 2023

So the Republicans must be out on the hustings offering chapter and verse about their answer to inflation, right? —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 2022

They were keyed to chapter and verse, and by the end of the century, pages numbers came into use. —Washington Post, 18 Feb. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1628, in the meaning defined at sense 1