chapter and verse
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.05 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
3
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The chapter number and verse number (within a particular book) that locate a quotation from the Bible.
Uncountable
noun
Specific references from an authoritative book or document, cited to support a statement or position.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "In the other dispute (“Did Jesus anywhere claim to be God?”) the same kind of men—trained and learned clergymen—backed up their arguments with chapter and verse."
- "‘I deny the first statement,’ said the Good Stockbroker heatedly. He was always heated where questions of morality were concerned, and was proceeding to give chapter and verse for what promised to become a somewhat dull discussion when the Bluestocking firmly interposed in her small staccato pipe:[…]"
- "The main suspect refused to answer any questions, but the police got chapter and verse from his accomplice."
- "She abounded in news of the situation at home, proved to him how perfectly she was arranging for his absence, told him who would take up this and who take up that exactly where he had left it, gave him in fact chapter and verse for the moral that nothing would suffer."
Etymology
From the practice, especially among Protestant Christians, of using quotations from the Bible to support positions taken in sermons or discussions. Such quotations gain additional weight when the speaker is able to name not only the book he cites from, but the specific chapter and verse.