Meanings
adjectiveby-the-books (comparative more by-the-books, superlative most by-the-books)
comparative more by-the-books · superlative most by-the-books
- alternativeAlternative form of by-the-book.
The hostility Garrus nurtures for the ineffective Citadel Security Services (C-Sec) bureaucracy has an oedipal tinge since his father, Castis Vakarian, is an exemplary by-the-books C-Sec officer.
2023, Jerome Winter, “"There Is No War, There Is Only Harvest": Diplomatic Realpolitik and Combat Gameplay in Mass Effect”, in BioWare's Mass Effect, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 37
Cite this entry
APA
by-the-books. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by-the-books
MLA
“by-the-books.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by-the-books. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “by-the-books,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by-the-books.
Source: by-the-books on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.