Definition of by

What does the word by mean?

• part of speech: preposition, adverb

  Prep. (bi, sometimes bi); Near, at or to side of, in postal district of, about person or in possession of, in company of, in region of, slightly inclining to, (Bromley-by-Bow, Coniston-by-Ambleside; come here by me; stand by, be faithful to, help; abide by, accept, observe; have not got it by me; come by, obtain; by oneself, alone; North by East, between N& NNE: by the head, stern, deeper in water there; by land& sea, adventures by flood& field); along, in passing along, through, via, avoiding, passing, out-stripping, (by nearest road; by the way, as one goes, parenthetically; so by the by, esp. as formula introducing digression; travel by Bale, Paris; pass him by, go by him); during, in the circumstances of, (by day, night, daylight; by the space of, biblical for during); through the agency, means, instrumentality, or causation, of, owing to, in such a manner, with, (by oneself, without help or prompting; know, say, by HEART; multiply, divide, by; 3 ft by 2 ft; lead by the hand; set by the ears, egg on to quarrel; go, be known, by the name of-; what do you mean by that?; travel by rail; by all, no, means; live by bread; do it by one\'s deputy; have children by such a father, mother; authorized, hanged, made, by; no gas to read by; case goes by default; begin, end, bying; by way of a joke; be by way of knowing everybody, profess or be supposed to; cautious by nature; by cheque, £6. 5. 4, in Crentries; by chance; by dint of; by reason of); as soon as, not later than, (by now, next week, tomorrow, the time—with or oftener without—that); according to, after, from, (by rote; by right; by rights, if right were done; take warning, example, by; by your leave; judge by appearances; sell, buy, by retail, measure, the yard, packet); with succession of, succeeding, (by degrees, by hundreds, man by man, little by little); to the extent of (missed by a foot, too moral by half, better by far, much); concerning, in respect of, (do one\'s duty by; French by blood, Jones by name; pull up by the roots); as surely as I believe in (by God; swear by all one holds sacred; swear by vegetarianism, declare complete belief in it). Adv. (bi): Near (stand by, be inactive, also be ready for action, esp. Naut.); aside, in reserve, (put, lay, set, by, abandon or store up); past (they marched by; all that is gone by). [old English]

• part of speech: noun

  =BYE (-e usu. exc. in by the by).

• part of speech: adjective

  Subordinate, incidental, secondary, side, sly, out-of-the-way, secret, as by (e) road, the by (e) effects, a by (e) consideration; b. Election.