by
Part of speech: prep
adv
adj
Morphological type: simple
Topics: mathematics
nautical
sciences
transport
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”).
Inflected forms:
form: bye
pos: prep
tags: alternative
form: bye
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: bye
pos: adj
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Near or next to.
pos: prep
examples: The mailbox is by the bus stop.
gloss: From one side of something to the other, passing close by; past.
pos: prep
examples: The stream runs by our back door.
He ran straight by me.
gloss: Not later than (the given time); not later than the end of (the given time interval); before.
pos: prep
examples: Be back by ten o'clock!
We'll find someone by the end of March.
I'll have been cycling for longer than two hours by lunchtime.
gloss: After a given amount of time has elapsed or a given event has occurred.
pos: prep
examples: By February, we were all sick of the cold.
By the time I realized I had left my phone at home, I was already two blocks from work.
By 29, my financial situation wasn’t just disorganized, it was untenable.
gloss: Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
pos: prep
examples: The matter was decided by the chairman.
The boat was swamped by the water.
He was protected by his body armour.
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.
gloss: Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
pos: prep
examples: There was a call by the unions for a 30% pay rise.
gloss: Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
pos: prep
examples: I was aghast by what I saw.
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 […].
gloss: Indicates the creator of a work: Existing through the authorship etc. of.
pos: prep
examples: There are many well-known plays by William Shakespeare
gloss: Indicates a means of achieving something: Involving/using the means of.
pos: prep
examples: I'd know you anywhere by your gravelly voice.
I avoided the guards by moving only when they weren't looking.
By Pythagoras' theorem, we can calculate the length of the hypotenuse.
We went by bus.
I discovered it by chance.
By 'maybe' she means 'no'.
The electricity was cut off, so we had to read by candlelight.
"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.[…]"
Players: Can we get there by candlelight? ¶ Gatekeepers: Yes and back again.
By the light of the moon, / by the light of a star / they walked all night
gloss: Indicates an authority according to which something is done.
pos: prep
examples: By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife.
gloss: Indicates an authority according to which something is done.
pos: prep
examples: By Jove! I think she's got it!
By all that is holy, I'll put an end to this.
By yonder moon I swear you do me wrong
'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 […]
gloss: Indicates a means of classification or organisation.
pos: prep
examples: I sorted the items by category.
Table 1 shows details of our employees broken down by sex and age.
gloss: Indicates the amount of change, difference or discrepancy
pos: prep
examples: Our stock is up by ten percent.
We won by six goals to three.
His date of birth was wrong by ten years.
gloss: In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another.
pos: prep
examples: We went through the book page by page.
We crawled forward by inches.
gloss: [with the] Acted on in units of the specified size or measure. (Sometimes hyperbolically)
pos: prep
examples: sold by the yard; cheaper if bought by the gross
While sitting listening to the radio by the hour, she can drink brandy by the bucketful!
He sits listening to the radio by the hour.
gloss: Per; with or in proportion to each.
pos: prep
examples: His health was deteriorating by the day.
The pickers are paid by the fortnight by the American bushel.
gloss: Indicates a referenced source: According to.
pos: prep
examples: He cheated by his own admission.
By my reckoning, we should be nearly there.
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.
gloss: Used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something.
pos: prep
examples: It is easy to invert a 2-by-2 matrix.
The room was about 4 foot by 6 foot.
The bricks used to build the wall measured 10 by 20 by 30 cm.
gloss: multiplied by or (chiefly South Asia) divided by
pos: prep
gloss: Designates a horse's sire (“male parent”).
pos: prep
examples: She's a lovely little filly, by Big Lad, out of Damsel in Distress.
gloss: At; with; among.
pos: prep
examples: Are you eating by Rabbi Fischer? (at the house of)
By Chabad, it's different.
gloss: in a windward direction, sailing near to the direction from which the wind is blowing
pos: prep
gloss: Along a path which runs past someone or something.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: I watched the parade as it passed by.
gloss: In the vicinity, near.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: There was a shepherd close by.
[The helmsman] steered with no end of a swagger while you were by; but if he lost sight of you, he became instantly the prey of an abject funk […]
gloss: To or at a place, as a residence or place of business.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: I'll stop by on my way home from work.
We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave.
gloss: Aside, away.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring.
gloss: Beyond or past a certain point.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: I'll somehow manage to get by.
gloss: Out of the way, off to one side.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
examples: a by path; a by room
gloss: Subsidiary, incidental.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
examples: by catch; a by issue
Antonyms: main
principal
Derived words: bit by bit
by and by
by and large
by day
by degrees
by dint of
by God
by golly
by Jesus
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
English terms prefixed with by-
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: deur
lang: Arabic
word: بِـ
roman: bi-
lang: Azerbaijani
word: vasitəsilə
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 用…
roman: yòng
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 由…
roman: yóu
lang: Ngazidja Comorian
word: ha
lang: Czech
word: pomocí
lang: Czech
word: prostřednictvím
lang: Danish
word: ved
lang: Danish
word: ved at
lang: Dutch
word: door
lang: Dutch
word: op
lang: Dutch
word: per
lang: Esperanto
word: per
lang: French
word: par
lang: French
word: en
lang: French
word: au moyen de
lang: German
word: mit
lang: German
word: mittels
lang: German
word: durch
lang: German
word: indem
lang: Greek
word: διά
roman: diá
lang: Greek
word: από
roman: apó
lang: Hebrew
word: על ידי
roman: al yedey
lang: Hungarian
word: -val
lang: Hungarian
word: -vel
lang: Hungarian
word: által
lang: Hungarian
word: útján
lang: Hungarian
word: révén
lang: Ido
word: per
lang: Indonesian
word: kena
lang: Italian
word: con
lang: Italian
word: per mezzo di
lang: Italian
word: mediante
lang: Italian
word: tramite
lang: Japanese
word: …で
lang: Japanese
word: …により
lang: Japanese
word: …によって
roman: …niyotte
lang: Kapampangan
word: gamit ing
lang: Kapampangan
word: gamit naning...
lang: Kapampangan
word: gamit ning...
lang: Kapampangan
word: ibat king...
lang: Kapampangan
word: ...ken
lang: Kapampangan
word: bilang
lang: Korean
word: ...로써
roman: ...rosseo
lang: Korean
word: ...로
roman: ...ro
lang: Northern Kurdish
word: bi
lang: Latin
word: per
lang: Latin
word: ab
lang: Latvian
word: pa
lang: Malay
word: dengan
lang: Maltese
word: bi
lang: Māori
word: nā
lang: Māori
word: ki
lang: Norwegian
word: med
lang: Old English
word: þurh
lang: Portuguese
word: por
lang: Portuguese
word: a
lang: Romanian
word: cu
lang: Slovene
word: s
lang: Slovene
word: z
lang: Spanish
word: por
lang: Swedish
word: genom att
lang: Thai
word: โดย
roman: doy
lang: Turkish
word: vasıtasıyla
lang: Ukrainian
word: за допомогою
roman: za dopomohoju
lang: Vietnamese
word: bằng cách
lang: Vietnamese
word: theo cách
lang: Welsh
word: â
lang: Arabic
word: بِـ
roman: bi-
lang: Esperanto
word: de
lang: Finnish
word: kautta
lang: French
word: par
lang: German
word: bei
lang: Bavarian German
word: ba
lang: Greek
word: μα
roman: ma
lang: Ancient Greek
word: νή
roman: nḗ
lang: Hungarian
word: szerint
lang: Hungarian
word: alapján
lang: Hungarian
word: mig-
lang: Hungarian
word: meg-
lang: Italian
word: per
lang: Japanese
word: 著…
lang: Japanese
word: …著
lang: Kapampangan
word: papunta king...
lang: Kapampangan
word: gamit ing
lang: Māori
word: nā
lang: Norwegian
word: ved
lang: Polish
word: na
lang: Portuguese
word: por
lang: Russian
word: от и́мени
roman: ot ímeni
lang: Russian
word: во и́мя
roman: vo ímja
lang: Swedish
word: vid
lang: Vietnamese
word: trước