passerby

or pass·er-by

[ pas-er-bahy, -bahy, pah-ser- ]
See synonyms for: passerbypassersby on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural pass·ers·by [pas-erz-bahy, -bahy, pah-serz-], /ˈpæs ərzˈbaɪ, -ˌbaɪ, ˈpɑ sərz-/,
  1. a person passing by.

Origin of passerby

1
1560–70; pass by + -er1, with postposing of the particle

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

How to use passerby in a sentence

  • The body is a house of many windows: there we all sit, showing ourselves and crying on the passersby to come and love us.

    The Pocket R.L.S. | Robert Louis Stevenson
  • The front door went up a step from off this rough pavement, where the feet of the passersby rasped and clattered.

    Sons and Lovers | David Herbert Lawrence
  • He amazed the passersby by alighting before his own front door in Paris where he left his airship while he went and ate breakfast.

    The Romance of Aircraft | Lawrence Yard Smith
  • They walked slowly down the street, Madge carrying the magazines so that the jackets would not be noticed by the passersby.

    The Missing Formula | Mildred A. Wirt, AKA Ann Wirt
  • Wilbur looked curiously at the pudgy clerk as he walked away, smiling coyly at the passersby.

    Mezzerow Loves Company | Floyd L. Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for passer-by

passer-by

nounplural passers-by
  1. a person that is passing or going by, esp on foot

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