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By means near or next to, and it also means through which.

(preposition)

An example of by is a red house set adjacent to a green house.
An example of by is the author of a novel.

The definition of by is in the immediate region, or to go past something.

(adverb)

An example of by is how one describes the closeness of a church down the street.
An example of by is a bike passing a walker on the street.

See by in Webster's New World College Dictionary

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
toward: north by northwest
in behalf of: he did well by his friends
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
produced with (the other parent): a son by my first husband
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
using (the given number) as multiplier or divisor

Origin: 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

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

adjective, noun

bye

close by; near: bystander
side: bystreet
on the side; secondary; incidental to the main: byproduct

Origin: < by

See by in American Heritage Dictionary 4

preposition

Close to; next to: the window by the door.
With the use or help of; through: We came by the back road.
Up to and beyond; past: We drove by the house.
At or to: stopped by the bakery; came by the house.
In the period of; during: sleeping by day.
Not later than: by 5:30 P.M.
a. In the amount of: letters by the thousands.
b. To the extent of: shorter by two inches.
a. According to: played by the rules.
b. With respect to: siblings by blood.
In the name of: swore by the Bible to tell the truth.
Through the agency or action of: was killed by a bullet.
Used to indicate a succession of specified individuals, groups, or quantities: One by one they left. They were persuaded little by little.
a. Used in multiplication and division: Multiply 4 by 6 to get 24.
b. Used with measurements: a room 12 by 18 feet.
c. Toward. Used to express direction with points of the compass: south by east.