D defs.my
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Entry 10 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

By

/(bī)/ · IPA /baɪ/
01 prep. In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from; close to; along with; as, come and sit by me.
  1. 1.
    In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from; close to; along with; as, come and sit by me.
    “By foundation or by shady rivulet He sought them both.” — Milton.
  2. 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. 3.
    Near to, while passing; hence, from one to the other side of; past; as, to go by a church.
  4. 4.
    Used in specifying adjacent dimensions; as, a cabin twenty feet by forty.
  5. 5.
    Against.[Obs.]
  6. 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.
Phrases & compounds
By all means — most assuredly; without fail; certainly.
By and by — Close together (of place).
By one's self — with only one's self near; alone; solitary.
By the bye — See under Bye.
By the head — 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 — 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.
02 adv. Near; in the neighborhood; present; as, there was no person by at the time.
  1. 1.
    Near; in the neighborhood; present; as, there was no person by at the time.
  2. 2.
    Passing near; going past; past; beyond; as, the procession has gone by; a bird flew by.
  3. 3.
    Aside; as, to lay by; to put by.
03 a. Out of the common path; aside; -- used in composition, giving the meaning of something aside, secondary, or incidental, or collateral matte…
  1. 1.
    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.