Diccionario ingles.comDiccionario ingles.com
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




By   /baɪ/   Listen
preposition
By  prep.  
1.
In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from; close to; along with; as, come and sit by me. "By foundation or by shady rivulet He sought them both."
2.
On; along; in traversing. Compare 5. "Long labors both by sea and land he bore." "By land, by water, they renew the charge."
3.
Near to, while passing; hence, from one to the other side of; past; as, to go by a church.
4.
Used in specifying adjacent dimensions; as, a cabin twenty feet by forty.
5.
Against. (Obs.)
6.
With, as means, way, process, etc.; through means of; with aid of; through; through the act or agency of; as, a city is destroyed by fire; profit is made by commerce; to take by force. Note: To the meaning of by, as denoting means or agency, belong, more or less closely, most of the following uses of the word:
(a)
It points out the author and producer; as, "Waverley", a novel by Sir W.Scott; a statue by Canova; a sonata by Beethoven.
(b)
In an oath or adjuration, it indicates the being or thing appealed to as sanction; as, I affirm to you by all that is sacred; he swears by his faith as a Christian; no, by Heaven.
(c)
According to; by direction, authority, or example of; after; in such phrases as, it appears by his account; ten o'clock by my watch; to live by rule; a model to build by.
(d)
At the rate of; according to the ratio or proportion of; in the measure or quantity of; as, to sell cloth by the yard, milk by the quart, eggs by the dozen, meat by the pound; to board by the year.
(e)
In comparison, it denotes the measure of excess or deficiency; when anything is increased or diminished, it indicates the measure of increase or diminution; as, larger by a half; older by five years; to lessen by a third.
(f)
It expresses continuance or duration; during the course of; within the period of; as, by day, by night.
(g)
As soon as; not later than; near or at; used in expressions of time; as, by this time the sun had risen; he will be here by two o'clock. Note: In boxing the compass, by indicates a pint nearer to, or towards, the next cardinal point; as, north by east, i.e., a point towards the east from the north; northeast by east, i.e., on point nearer the east than northeast is. Note: With is used instead of by before the instrument with which anything is done; as, to beat one with a stick; the board was fastened by the carpenter with nails. But there are many words which may be regarded as means or processes, or, figuratively, as instruments; and whether with or by shall be used with them is a matter of arbitrary, and often, of unsettled usage; as, to a reduce a town by famine; to consume stubble with fire; he gained his purpose by flattery; he entertained them with a story; he distressed us with or by a recital of his sufferings. see With.
By all means, most assuredly; without fail; certainly.
By and by.
(a)
Close together (of place). (Obs.) "Two yonge knightes liggyng (lying) by and by."
(b)
Immediately; at once. (Obs.) "When... persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended."
(c)
Presently; pretty soon; before long. Note: In this phrase, by seems to be used in the sense of nearness in time, and to be repeated for the sake of emphasis, and thus to be equivalent to "soon, and soon," that is instantly; hence, less emphatically, pretty soon, presently.
By one's self, with only one's self near; alone; solitary.-
By the bye. See under Bye.
By the head (Naut.), having the bows lower than the stern; said of a vessel when her head is lower in the water than her stern. If her stern is lower, she is by the stern.
By the lee, the situation of a vessel, going free, when she has fallen off so much as to bring the wind round her stern, and to take her sails aback on the other side.
By the run, to let go by the run, to let go altogether, instead of slacking off.
By the way, by the bye; used to introduce an incidental or secondary remark or subject. -
Day by day, One by one, Piece by piece, etc., each day, each one, each piece, etc., by itself singly or separately; each severally.
To come by, to get possession of; to obtain.
To do by, to treat, to behave toward.
To set by, to value, to esteem.
To stand by, to aid, to support. Note: The common phrase good-by is equivalent to farewell, and would be better written good-bye, as it is a corruption of God be with you (b'w'ye).


adverb
By  adv.  
1.
Near; in the neighborhood; present; as, there was no person by at the time.
2.
Passing near; going past; past; beyond; as, the procession has gone by; a bird flew by.
3.
Aside; as, to lay by; to put by.


adjective
By  adj.  Out of the common path; aside; used in composition, giving the meaning of something aside, secondary, or incidental, or collateral matter, a thing private or avoiding notice; as, by-line, by-place, by-play, by-street. It was formerly more freely used in composition than it is now; as, by-business, by-concernment, by-design, by-interest, etc.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |




"By" Quotes from Famous Books



... By my troth, I am undone! What need is there of talking? According to the words I have heard, I surely haven't lately voyaged hence to Aegypt, but even to some desolate land and the most remote shores have I been borne about, so much am I at a loss ...
— The Captiva and The Mostellaria • Plautus
... down to it," he said. "Why do you deal at Peckaby's? Stay a bit! I know what you would urge: that by going elsewhere you would displease Roy. It seems to me that if you would all go elsewhere, Roy could not prevent it. Should one of you attempt to go, he might; but he could not prevent it if you all go with one accord. If Peckaby's ...
— Verner's Pride • Mrs. Henry Wood
... she said, "and I do not like to talk of things I do not understand; but I have heard two opinions. Some say the devil carried the seed from hell and planted it on the earth to plague men and make them sin; and some say, that when all the plants in the garden of Eden were pulled up by the roots, one bush that the angels planted was left growing, and it spread its seed over the whole earth, and its name is love. I do not know which is right—perhaps both. There are different species that go under the same name. There is ...
— The Story of an African Farm • (AKA Ralph Iron) Olive Schreiner
... Aunt Caroline, coming up. Aunt Caroline had had enough garden party. She had noticed both the rescue of Desire by John, and the conversation of Mary with Mrs. Keene—the "worst old gossip ...
— The Window-Gazer • Isabel Ecclestone Mackay
... Scottish poet, born in Ettrick; had little or no schooling; was bred a shepherd; took to rhyming; fell in with Sir Walter Scott, whom he assisted with his "Border Minstrelsy"; rented a farm, and first came into notice by the publication of his poem, the "Queen's Wake"; he wrote in prose as well as poetry, with humour as well as no little graphic power; "was," says Carlyle, "a little red-skinned stiff sack of a body, with two little blue or grey eyes that sparkled, if not with ...
— The Nuttall Encyclopaedia - Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge • Edited by Rev. James Wood


More quotes...


Copyright © 2025 Diccionario ingles.com