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Synonyms

along, alongside, apart, aside, beside, besides, close, concerning, handy, near, nearby, past

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By - 13 dictionary results

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by

1 [bahy]

preposition, adverb, adjective, noun, plural byes.

–preposition

1.	near to or next to: a home by a lake.

2.	over the surface of, through the medium of, along, or using as a route: He came by the highway. She arrived by air.

3.	on, as a means of conveyance: They arrived by ship.

4.	to and beyond the vicinity of; past: He went by the church.

5.	within the extent or period of; during: by day; by night.

6.	not later than; at or before: I usually finish work by five o'clock.

7.	to the extent or amount of: The new tug is larger than the old one by a great deal. He's taller than his sister by three inches.

8.	from the opinion, evidence, or authority of: By his own account he was in Chicago at the time. I know him by sight.

9.	according to; in conformity with: This is a bad movie by any standards.

10.	with (something) at stake; on: to swear by all that is sacred.

11.	through the agency, efficacy, work, participation, or authority of: The book was published by Random House.

12.	from the hand, mind, invention, or creativity of: She read a poem by Emily Dickinson. The phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison.

13.	in consequence, as a result, or on the basis of: We met by chance. We won the game by forfeit.

14.	accompanied with or in the atmosphere of: Lovers walk by moonlight.

15.	in treatment or support of; for: He did well by his children.

16.	after; next after, as of the same items in a series: piece by piece; little by little.

17.	(in multiplication) taken the number of times as that specified by the second number, or multiplier: Multiply 18 by 57.

18.	(in measuring shapes) having an adjoining side of, as a width relative to a length: a room 10 feet by 12 feet.

19.	(in division) separated into the number of equal parts as that specified by the second number, or divisor: Divide 99 by 33.

20.	in terms or amounts of; in measuring units of: Apples are sold by the bushel. I'm paid by the week.

21.	begot or born of: Eve had two sons by Adam.

22.	(of quadrupeds) having as a sire: Equipoise II by Equipoise.

23.	Navigation. (as used in the names of the 16 smallest points on the compass) one point toward the east, west, north, or south of N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, or NW, respectively: He sailed NE by N from Pago Pago.

24.	into, at, or to: Come by my office this afternoon.

–adverb

25.	near; in the immediate vicinity; at hand: The school is close by.

26.	to and beyond a point near something; past: The car drove by.

27.	aside; away: Put your work by for the moment. Over the years, she laid by enough money to retire.

28.	over; past: in times gone by.

29.

by me,

a.	(in bridge and other bidding card games) a declaration that the speaker is passing.

b.	(in poker) a declaration that the speaker is checking: Is my pair of tens still high? By me.

–adjective Also, bye.

30.	situated to one side: They came down a by passage.

31.	secondary, incidental: It was only a by comment.

–noun

32.

bye ¹ .

—Idioms

33.	by and by, in a short time; before long; presently: The clouds will disappear by and by.

34.	by and large, in general; on the whole: By and large, there is much to be said for the new system.

35.	by the by. bye ¹ (def. 6).

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE bī; c. D bij, OHG bī (G bei), Goth bi. See be-

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : By

Spanish:

junto a,

German:

bei,

Japanese:

～のそばに

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by

2 [bahy]

–interjection

good-bye: By now, come again sometime!

Also, bye.

Origin:
by shortening

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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by¹ (bī) Pronunciation Key
prep.

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.
1. In the amount of: letters by the thousands.
2. To the extent of: shorter by two inches.
3. According to: played by the rules.
4. With respect to: siblings by blood.
5. Used in multiplication and division: Multiply 4 by 6 to get 24.
6. Used with measurements: a room 12 by 18 feet.
7. Toward. Used to express direction with points of the compass: south by east.
1. According to: played by the rules.
2. With respect to: siblings by blood.
3. Used in multiplication and division: Multiply 4 by 6 to get 24.
4. Used with measurements: a room 12 by 18 feet.
5. Toward. Used to express direction with points of the compass: south by east.
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.
1. Used in multiplication and division: Multiply 4 by 6 to get 24.
2. Used with measurements: a room 12 by 18 feet.
3. Toward. Used to express direction with points of the compass: south by east.

adv.

On hand; nearby: Stand by.
Aside; away: We put it by for later.
Up to, alongside, and past: The car raced by.
At or to one's home or current location: Stop by later today.
Into the past: as years go by.

[Middle English, from Old English bī, be; see ambhi in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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by² (bī) Pronunciation Key
n. Variant of bye¹.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

bye¹ also by (bī) Pronunciation Key
n.

A secondary matter; a side issue.
Sports The position of one who draws no opponent for a round in a tournament and so advances to the next round.

[From by¹.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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O.E. be (unstressed) or bi (stressed), from P.Gmc. *bi "around, about" (cf. Du. bij, Ger. bei "by, at, near"), from *umbi, (cognate with second element in PIE *ambhi "around," cf. Skt. abhi "toward, to," Gk. amphi- "around, about"). Originally an adverbial particle of place, in which sense it is retained in place names (Whitby, Grimsby, etc.). Elliptical use for "secondary course" (opposed to main) was in O.E. This also is the sense of the second by in the phrase by the by (1615). Bygone is from 1424; by-product is from 1857; bystander from 1619; byline of a newspaper article, etc., is from 1926. Phrase by and by (c.1314) originally meant "one by one," modern sense is from 1526. By and large (1669) was originally nautical, "sailing to the wind and off it," hence "in one direction then another."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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by
adverb
1.	so as to pass a given point; "every hour a train goes past"
2.	in reserve; not for immediate use; "started setting aside money to buy a car"; "put something by for her old age"; "has a nest egg tucked away for a rainy day" [syn: aside]

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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by networking
The country code for Belarus.
(1999-01-27)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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By\ (b[imac]), prep. [OE. bi, AS. b[=i], big, near to, by, of, from, after, according to; akin to OS. & OFries. bi, be, D. bij, OHG. b[=i], G. bei, Goth. bi, and perh. Gr. 'amfi`. E. prefix be- is orig. the same word. [root]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. [1913 Webster]

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. 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. 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.

By

in the expression "by myself" (A.V., 1 Cor. 4:4), means, as rendered in the Revised Version, "against myself."

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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BY
budget year