know like a book

Idioms  

1. Also, know like the back of one's hand or know backwards and forwards. Be extremely familiar with or knowledgeable about; understand perfectly. For example, I know Greg like a book—I'm sure he'll come, or I know this town like the back of my hand, or John knew his part backwards and forwards. The first of these hyperbolic idioms, dating from the early 1800s, has a close cousin in read like a book, which means “to discern someone's intent,” as in I can read Greg like a book; also see under open book. The second (back of hand) dates only from the mid-1900s. Also see backwards and forwards, def. 2; inside out, def. 2; know all the answers.

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Example Sentences

It must seem extraordinarily odd to walk about among things you are supposed to know like a book, and to be, in fact, a perfect stranger.

From Double Trouble Or, Every Hero His Own Villain by Lowell, Orson