By

prep. (bī)

[OE. bi, AS. bī, big, near to, by, of, from, after, according to; akin to OS. & OFries. bi, be, D. bij, OHG. bī, G. bei, Goth. bi, and perh. Gr. 'amfi`. E. prefix be- is orig. the same word. √203. See pref. Be-.]

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.

Milton.

2. On; along; in traversing. Compare 5.

Long labors both by sea and land he bore.

Dryden.

By land, by water, they renew the charge.

Pope.

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.] Tyndale [1. Cor. iv. 4].

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.» Chaucer. (b) Immediately; at once. [Obs.] «When . . . persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.» Matt. xiii. 21. (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).

By
adv. (bī)

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.

By
a. (bī)

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.

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IN BRIEF: Near.

Tutor's tip: After her team got a "bye" (skipping a turn in a tournament), she said "'bye" (goodbye) and left to "buy" (purchase) sodas at the store "by" (near) the park.

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The adjective has one meaning:

Meaning #1: minor or subordinate; `by' is often used in combination
  Synonyms: side, bye

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The adverb by has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: so as to pass a given point
  Synonym: past

Meaning #2: in reserve; not for immediate use
  Synonyms: aside, away

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Dansk (Danish)
1.
prep. - ved, ved siden af, hos, nær ved
adv. - i nærheden, til side, hen

idioms:

• by and by    inden længe, snart
• by and large    i det store hele
• by oneself    på egen hånd, alene, uden hjælp
• get by    klare sig
• go by    passere, passere forbi

2.
n. - farvel, hej

Nederlands (Dutch)
door, bij, per, via, niet later dan, door middel van, volgens, langs (voorbij), voor (b.v. één voor één)

Français (French)
1.
prep. - à côté de, près de, par, le long de, devant, le/de (jour, nuit), par (terre, mer), par/de (à cause de), avant, pas plus tard que, à/au (mètre, kilo), d'après, suivant, selon, de (évaluant la différence), par (mesure), par (dans les serments)
adv. - près de, près, de côté

idioms:

• by and by    bientôt, tantôt
• by and large    dans l'ensemble
• by oneself    seul
• by the by    à propos, au fait, soit dit en passant
• get by    passer, se débrouiller, échapper à
• go by    passer, s'écouler

2.
n. - question (secondaire), les à-côtés (d'une question), (Sport) exemption (d'une épreuve, d'un match), balle passée (cricket)

Deutsch (German)
1.
prep. - durch, an, bei, nach, zufolge, mit, bis, über, um, -weise
adv. - vorbei, in der Nähe

idioms:

• by and by    nach und nach, nach einer Weile
• by and large    im großen und ganzen
• by oneself    alleine
• by the by    übrigens
• get by    vorbeikommen, über die Runden kommen, entgehen
• go by    richten nach, halten an

2.
n. - (Kricket) Lauf bei nicht getroffenem Ball, kampfloses Weiterkommen, (Golf) ungespielte Löcher, Nebensache

Ελληνική (Greek)
prep. - δίπλα σε, πλάι σε, μπροστά από, κατά τη διάρκεια, με (κάποιο μέσο), μέσω, διαμέσου, έως, (το αργότερο) μέχρι, (μετά από παθητ. φωνή) από, υπό, σύμφωνα με, κατά (βαθμούς κ.λπ.), (για διαστάσεις) επί, (σε αριθμ. πράξεις) επί, δια
adv. - κοντά, δίπλα, πλάι, κατά μέρος, από δίπλα, από μπροστά
n. - (κρίκετ) μπαλιά που πέρασε
pref. - υπο-, παρα-, δευτερεύων

idioms:

• by and by    σε λίγο, μετά από λίγο
• by and large    γενικά, εν γένει, συνολικά
• by oneself    μόνος μου, αβοήθητος
• get by    τα βγάζω πέρα
• go by    διαβαίνω, περνώ, ακολουθώ, τηρώ (οδηγίες κ.λπ.)

Italiano (Italian)
a causa di, da, presso, secondo, con, in, verso, su, per, non oltre, passato

idioms:

• by and by    tra poco
• by and large    generalmente
• by oneself    da solo
• by the way    a proposito

Português (Portuguese)
prep. - perto de, por, dividido por, até, não mais tarde que
adj. - próximo, passado (relativo a espaço e tempo)
adv. - nas proximidades, por
pref. - secundário, de menos importância, menor

idioms:

• by and by    logo
• by and large    em geral
• by oneself    sozinho
• by the way    a propósito
• get by    sobreviver (com salário), ser aceitável
• go by    passar, agir de acordo com, a julgar por

Русский (Russian)
из-за, рядом с, согласно, около, при

idioms:

• by and by    потом
• by and large    в целом
• by oneself    самостоятельно
• by the way    кстати
• get by    справляться с чем-л., быть приемлемым
• go by    проходить мимо, пренебрегать, проходить зря, проходить (о времени)

Español (Spanish)
1.
prep. - por, cerca de, junto a, con, al lado de, de, a
adv. - pasado, cerca, al lado, delante de, por el lado, más allá , de largo, aparte, a un lado

idioms:

• by and by    con el tiempo, a la larga
• by and large    de una manera general
• by oneself    solo, de por sí
• by the by    a propósito...?
• get by    arreglárselas, defenderse, pasar inadvertido
• go by    pasar, ajustarse a, regirse por, transcurrir

2.
n. - lateral, apartado, secreto, secundario

Svenska (Swedish)
prep. - vid, bredvid, vid sidan av, till, intill, med, genom, senast, av, enligt
adv. - i närheten, bredvid, undan
n. - i förbigående sagt, inom parentes
pref. - nära, bi-, sido-, smyg-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 被, 由, 经由, 靠, 通过, 用, 沿, 经过, 在旁边, 过去, 在一边

idioms:

• by and by    不久以后
• by and large    大体上, 基本上
• by oneself    单独地
• get by    过活, 经过, 过得去, 通过
• go by    走过, 顺便走访, 依照

2. 保存者

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
prep. - 被, 由, 經由, 靠, 通過, 用, 沿
adv. - 經過, 在旁邊, 過去, 在一邊

idioms:

• by and by    不久以後
• by and large    大體上, 基本上
• by oneself    單獨地
• get by    過活, 經過, 過得去, 通過
• go by    走過, 順便走訪, 依照

2.
n. - 保存者

한국어 (Korean)
1.
prep. - ~의 가까이에, ~을 따라, ~동안, ~에 의해서
adv. - 가까이, 옆으로, 대비하여

idioms:

• by and by    잠시 후에
• by and large    전반적으로
• by oneself    홀로, 남의 도움 없이
• get by    통과하다
• go by    들르다

2.
n. - 보조적인 것, 이미 승부가 나서 어 이상 플레이를 할 필요가 없을 때 남은 홀

日本語 (Japanese)
prep. - …のそばに, 手元に, 通って, 経由して, 通り過ぎて, 間に, …までに, …で, …によって, までには, ずつ
adj. - 付随的な
adv. - そばに, わきへ, 立ち寄って

idioms:

• by and by    やがて

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(حرف جر) بجانب, عند, بقرب (ظرف) جانبا (الاسم) (لعبه الكريكت) نقطه اضافيه, (رياضه) فوز بدون خوض مباراة لغياب الخصم (بادئه الكلمه) ثانوي, قريب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
prep. - ‮על-יד, על-ידי, אצל, קרוב ל-, בעד, דרך, ב-, עד ל-, לפני, לפי, ב- (נוסח שבועה)‬
adv. - ‮על-יד, אצל, קרוב ל-, לפני, בהתאם, בנסיבות‬
n. - ‮עניין משני, מעמדו של מתחרה העובר לסיבוב הבא בתחרות ללא התמודדות‬

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