by
Language: English
Part of speech: prep
Pronunciation: enpr: bī
ipa: /baɪ/
rhymes: -aɪ
homophone: bi
homophone: buy
homophone: bye
Forms: form: bye
Etymology: From Middle English by, bi, from Old English bī (“by; near; around”), from Proto-West Germanic *bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near; by; around; about”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi.
Cognate with West Frisian by (“by; near”), Afrikaans by (“at; by; near”), Saterland Frisian bie (“near; by”), Dutch bij (“near; by”), German Low German bi (“by; near; at”), German bei (“by; near; at”).
Senses: examples: text: The mailbox is by the bus stop.
glosses: Near or next to.
examples: text: The stream runs by our back door.
text: He ran straight by me.
glosses: From one side of something to the other, passing close by; past.
examples: text: Be back by ten o'clock!.
text: We'll find someone by the end of March.
text: We will send it by the first week of July.
glosses: Not later than (the given time); not later than the end of (the given time interval).
examples: text: The matter was decided by the chairman.
text: The boat was swamped by the water.
text: He was protected by his body armour.
text: Valencia threatened sporadically in the first half with Miguel having a decent effort deflected wide by Ashley Cole, while Jordi Alba's near-post cross was flicked into the sidenetting by Pablo Hernandez.
ref: 2011 September 28, Jon Smith, “Valencia 1-1 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:
glosses: Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
Following a passive verb.
examples: There was a call by the unions for a 30% pay rise.
glosses: Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
Following a noun.
examples: text: I was aghast by what I saw.
text: In other directions the fields and sky were so much of one colour by the snow that it was difficult in a hasty glance to tell whereabouts the horizon occurred […].
ref: 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, 2005 Barnes & Noble Classics publication of 1912 Wessex edition, p.109
glosses: Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
Following an adjective.
raw_tags: not in common modern use
examples: text: There are many well-known plays by William Shakespeare
glosses: Indicates the creator of a work: Existing through the authorship etc. of.
examples: text: I'd know you anywhere by your gravelly voice.
text: I avoided the guards by moving only when they weren't looking.
text: By Pythagoras' theorem, we can calculate the length of the hypotenuse.
text: We went by bus.
text: I discovered it by chance.
text: By 'maybe' she means 'no'.
text: The electricity was cut off, so we had to read by candlelight.
text: "I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal.[…]"
ref: 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter II, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC:
text: Players: Can we get there by candlelight? ¶ Gatekeepers: Yes and back again.
ref: 1945, Neva L. Boyd, Handbook of Recreational Games, Dover, published 1975, →ISBN, page 16:
text: By the light of the moon, / by the light of a star / they walked all night
ref: 1960, Dr. Seuss, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish:
glosses: Indicates a means of achieving something: Involving/using the means of.
examples: text: By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife.
glosses: Indicates an authority according to which something is done.
examples: text: By Jove! I think she's got it!
text: By all that is holy, I'll put an end to this.
text: By yonder moon I swear you do me wrong
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
text: 'By my soul! I believe something bad has happened me,' he muttered, and popped up his window, and looked out, half dreaming over the church-yard on the park beyond […]
ref: 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
glosses: Indicates an authority according to which something is done.
Invokes an authority in an oath.
examples: text: I sorted the items by category.
text: Table 1 shows details of our employees broken down by sex and age.
glosses: Indicates a means of classification or organisation.
examples: text: Our stock is up by ten percent.
text: We won by six goals to three.
text: His date of birth was wrong by ten years.
glosses: Indicates the amount of change, difference or discrepancy
examples: text: We went through the book page by page.
text: We crawled forward by inches.
glosses: In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another.
examples: text: sold by the yard; cheaper if bought by the gross
text: While sitting listening to the radio by the hour, she can drink brandy by the bucketful!
text: He sits listening to the radio by the hour.
glosses: Acted on in units of the specified size or measure. (Sometimes hyperbolically)
raw_tags: with the
examples: text: His health was deteriorating by the day.
text: The pickers are paid by the fortnight by the American bushel.
glosses: Per; with or in proportion to each.
examples: text: He cheated by his own admission.
text: By my reckoning, we should be nearly there.
text: Ignorant and ſuperſtitious wretches meaſure the actions of letterd and philoſophical men by the tattle of their nurſes or illiterate parents and companions, or by the faſhion of the country : and people of differing religions judge and condemn each other by their own tenents ; when both of them cannot be in the right, and it is well if either of them are.
ref: 1722, William Wollaston, “Sect. V. Truths relating to the Deity. Of his exiſtence, perfection, providence, &c.”, in The Religion of Nature Delineated, page 81:
glosses: Indicates a referenced source: According to.
examples: text: It is easy to invert a 2-by-2 matrix.
text: The room was about 4 foot by 6 foot.
text: The bricks used to build the wall measured 10 by 20 by 30 cm.
glosses: Used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something.
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: multiplied by or (chiefly South Asia) divided by
examples: text: She's a lovely little filly, by Big Lad, out of Damsel in Distress.
qualifier: horse breeding
glosses: Designates a horse's male parent (sire); cf. out of.
examples: text: Are you eating by Rabbi Fischer? (at the house of)
text: By Chabad, it's different. (with, among)
qualifier: chiefly Yeshivish
glosses: At, with, among
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: in a windward direction, sailing near to the direction from which the wind is blowing
Derived terms: bit by bit
by and by
by and large
by day
by degrees
by dint of
by means of
by night
by oneself
by one's lonesome
by right
by rights
by the book
by the by
by the bye
by the way
by way of
by your leave
do good by
do right by
hard by
off-by-one
secure by design
side by side