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- DictionaryBy/bī/
preposition
- 1. identifying the agent performing an action.
- 2. indicating the means of achieving something: "malaria can be controlled by attacking the parasite"
adverb
- 1. so as to go past: "a car flashed by on the other side of the road"
noun
- 1. variant spelling of bye
a. : into the vicinity of and beyond : past. went right by him. b. : through or through the medium (see medium entry 1 sense 2) of : via. enter by the door. c. : in the direction of : toward. sailed north by east.
We use by to talk about measurements, and increases and decreases in amounts: …. By meaning ‘during’. We sometimes use by + day and by + night to mean ‘during the day or the night’: …. By meaning ‘written’ or ‘composed’.
By, through, with indicate agency or means of getting something done or accomplished. By is regularly used to denote the agent (person or force) in passive constructions: It is done by many; destroyed by fire. It also indicates means: Send it by airmail.
Definition of by preposition in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
We use by meaning ‘not later than’ to refer to arrangements and deadlines: They said that the plumber would be here by Monday. The postman is always here by 11 am. We use by the time, meaning ‘when’, to connect an action that has happened or will have happened before a second action.
The adverb is pronounced (baɪ ). In addition to the uses shown below, by is used in phrasal verbs such as 'abide by', 'put by', and 'stand by'. 1. preposition A2. If something is done by a person or thing, that person or thing does it. The feast was served by his mother and sisters.
By means near, beside, or past. When your friend rides by on her bike, she passes close to you. Your dog might run by too fast for you to catch her and put her leash on, or you might ask your dad to drive by the house he lived in when he first met your mom.
BY definition: 1. used to show the person or thing that does something: 2. through doing or using something: 3…. Learn more.
Sep 1, 2023 · As a noun, by can mean either something of secondary importance or something that is being passed over. For example, by, or bye, is commonly used in sports to describe a week in a team’s schedule with no games. The schedule, in a sense, is passing over games. These weeks are called by weeks.
Jul 24, 2024 · In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another. We went through the book page by page. We crawled forward by inches. (with the) Acted on in units of the specified size or measure. (Sometimes hyperbolically) sold by the yard; cheaper if bought by the gross.
