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by ()

  1. near in space; beside; at stand by the wall
    1. in or during the time of travel by night
    2. not later than be back by ten o'clock
    1. via; through, along, or over driving home by the dirt road
    2. past; beyond to march by the reviewing stand
    3. to or within a distance of missed the putt by a foot
  2. toward north by northwest
  3. in behalf of he did well by his friends
  4. with respect to (a given category) a lawyer by profession
    1. through the means, work, or operations of a trip by train, a pact reached by negotiation, made by craftsmen, poems (written) by Poe
    2. through the activity or effort of: used before gerunds he won by practicing daily
  5. produced with (the other parent) a son by my first husband
  6. following in series marching two by two
    1. with the authority or sanction of by your leave
    2. according to; in a manner consistent with playing by the rules
    3. in the name of: used in oaths by all that's holy
    4. Informal in the opinion of the plans are OK by me
    1. in the amount of, or to the extent or degree of apples by the peck
    2. at the rate or pace of growing dark by degrees
    3. and in another dimension two feet by four feet
  7. using (the given number) as multiplier or divisor

Etymology: ME by, bi, be < OE be (unstressed), bi (stressed) < Gmc *bi, around, about, akin to Gr amphi, L ambi: see by-, be; orig. adv. of place, meaning “beside, near,” but already highly specialized prep. in OE

adverb

  1. close at hand; near stand by
  2. away; aside we have put money by
  3. close in passing; past the car sped by
  4. ☆ at the place specified or understood stop by on your way home

adjective, noun

by Idioms

by and by

  1. Obsolete immediately
  2. after a short while; soon
  3. sooner or later; eventually

by and large

☆ on the whole; considering everything

by oneself

  1. alone; solitary
  2. unaided

by the by

incidentally

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

by Synonyms

by

prep.

  1. Near

    close to, next to, by the side of, at; see near 1, next 2.

  2. By stated means

    over, with, through, by means of, by the agency or intermediacy of, in the name of, at the hand of, along with, through the medium of, with the assistance or aid of, on, supported by, via.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"by." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/by>

APA Style

by. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/by

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