Word definition: by

Etimology


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”).

preposition


by

Near or next to.

From one side of something to the other, passing close by; past.

Not later than (the given time); not later than the end of (the given time interval).

Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.

Indicates the creator of a work: Existing through the authorship etc. of.

Indicates a means of achieving something: Involving/using the means of.

Indicates an authority according to which something is done.

Indicates a means of classification or organisation.

Indicates the amount of change, difference or discrepancy

In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another.

(with the) Acted on in units of the specified size or measure. (Sometimes hyperbolically)

per; with or in proportion to each.

Indicates a referenced source: According to.

Used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something.

(horse breeding) Designates a horse's male parent (sire); cf. out of.

Examples


The mailbox is by the bus stop.

The stream runs by our back door.

He ran straight by me.

Be back by ten o'clock!.

We'll find someone by the end of March.

We will send it by the first week of July.

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.

There was a call by the unions for a 30% pay rise.

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 […].

There are many well-known plays by William Shakespeare

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

By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife.

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 […]

I sorted the items by category.

Table 1 shows details of our employees broken down by sex and age.

Our stock is up by ten percent.

His date of birth was wrong by ten years.

We went through the book page by page.

We crawled forward by inches.

sold by the yard; cheaper if bought by the gross

He drinks brandy by the bucketful!

His health was deteriorating by the day.

The pickers are paid by the bushel.

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.

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.

She's a lovely little filly, by Big Lad, out of Damsel in Distress.

adverb


by (not comparable)

Along a path which runs past the speaker.

In the vicinity, near.

To or at a place, as a residence or place of business.

(uncommon) aside, away

Examples


I watched as it passed by.

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 […]

I'll stop by on my way home from work.

We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave.

The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring.

adjective


by (not comparable)

Out of the way, off to one side.

Subsidiary, incidental.

Examples


a by path, a by room

by catch, a by issue

Related words


antonyms

main, principal

noun


by (plural bys)

Alternative form of bye.

interjection


by

Dated form of bye (“goodbye”).

Data provided by Wiktionary