by-blow

[ bahy-bloh ]
See synonyms for: by-blowby-blows on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. an incidental or accidental blow.

  2. Also bye-blow . an illegitimate child; bastard.

Origin of by-blow

1
First recorded in 1585–95; by- + blow1

Words Nearby by-blow

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use by-blow in a sentence

  • In fact, I got a blow-by-blow description of your entire escape from them.

    Captives of the Flame | Samuel R. Delany
  • Nature had meant him for a butcher, but, being a by-blow of a great house, a discerning patron had diverted him bishopward.

    The Yeoman Adventurer | George W. Gough
  • They are this far right, that romance is a late by-blow of the ageless creative hunger.

    Mountain | Clement Wood
  • Tush, a by-blow for mirth, we must have better purchase, we want a fourth for another project that I have ripen'd.

British Dictionary definitions for by-blow

by-blow

noun
  1. a passing or incidental blow

  2. an archaic word for a bastard

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012