prep.
- through the agency or means of.
▸indicating how something happens.
- indicating a quantity or amount, or the size of a margin.
▸identifying a parameter.
▸expressing multiplication, especially in dimensions.
- indicating the end of a time period.
- near to; beside.
▸past and beyond.
- during.
- according to.
- used in mild oaths:
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by God!
adv.
so as to go past.
n.
(pl. byes)
variant spelling of
bye1.
Phrase
- by and by
before long. - by the by
(or bye)
incidentally. - by and large
on the whole.
[orig. in naut. use, describing the handling of a ship both to the wind and off it.]
- by oneself
- alone.
- unaided.
- by way of
see way.
Etymology
OE bī, bi, be, of Gmc origin.
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