By

Alternative forms

 * bye (archaic for preposition and adverb, not used for abbreviation, preferred for noun and interjection)

Etymology
From bī: (being near)

Preposition

 * 1) Near or next to.
 * The mailbox is by the bus stop.
 * 1) At some time before (the given time), or before the end of a given time interval.
 * Be back by ten o'clock!
 * We will send it by the first week of July.
 * 1)  Through the action or presence of.
 * The matter was decided by the chairman.
 * The boat was swamped by the water.
 * He was protected by his body armour.
 * 1)  Existing through the authorship etc of.
 * There are many well-known plays by William Shakespeare
 * 1)  Through the action of, caused by, responsibility for; by dint of.
 * 2) * 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, 2005 Barnes & Noble Classics publication of 1912 Wessex edition, p109:
 * In other directions the fields and sky were so much of one colour by the snow that it was difficult in a hasty glance to tell whereabouts the horizon occurred [...]
 * 1)  Involving/using the means of.
 * I avoided the guards by moving only when they weren't looking.
 * 1) * 1945, Neva L. Boyd, Handbook of Recreational Games, 1975 Dover edition, ISBN 0486232042, page 16 :
 * Players: Can we get there by candlelight?
 * Gatekeepers: Yes and back again.
 * 1) * 1960, Dr. Seuss, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish:
 * By the light of the moon, / by the light of a star / they walked all night
 * 1)  Using the rules or logic of.
 * I sorted the items by category.
 * 1)  With a change of.
 * Our stock is up by ten percent.
 * We went through the book page by page.
 * We crawled forward by inches.
 * 1)  With the authority of.
 * By Jove! I think she's got it!
 * By all that is holy, I'll put an end to this.
 * It is easy to invert a 2 by 2 matrix.
 * The room was about 4 foot by 6 foot.
 * ''We used 10 by 20 by 30 cm bricks to build the wall."
 * It is easy to invert a 2 by 2 matrix.
 * The room was about 4 foot by 6 foot.
 * ''We used 10 by 20 by 30 cm bricks to build the wall."

Derived terms

 * bit by bit
 * by degrees
 * by dint of
 * by one's lonesome
 * by oneself


 * by means of
 * by rights
 * by the book
 * by the by


 * by the bye
 * by the way
 * by your leave
 * by way of


 * do good by
 * do right by
 * hard by
 * side by side

Adverb

 * 1) Along a path which runs by the speaker.
 * I watched as it passed by.
 * 1) In the vicinity, near.
 * The was a shepherd close by.
 * The shop is hard by the High Street.
 * 1) To or at a place, as a residence or place of business.
 * I'll stop by on my way home from work.
 * We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave.
 * 1) Aside, away.
 * The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring.

Derived terms

 * by the by
 * drop by
 * full and by


 * nearby
 * pass by
 * passerby


 * put by
 * right by
 * stand by


 * stop by
 * bypass

Adjective

 * 1) Out of the way, subsidiary.

Antonyms

 * main, principal

Derived terms

 * bypass
 * byroad
 * bystander
 * byway

Noun

 * 1)  A pass

Thesaurus
abeam, abreast, accommodated to, according to, adapted to, adieu, adjusted to, after, agreeable to, agreeably to, all through, along by, alongside, among, answerable to, around, as to, aside, at, back, beside, by dint of, by means of, by use of, by virtue of, by way of, bye-bye, conformable to, congruent with, consistent with, farewell, from, good-bye, hereby, herewith, in, in accordance with, in agreement with, in compliance with, in conformity with, in correspondence to, in harmony with, in keeping with, in line with, in lock-step with, in obedience to, in reserve, in step with, in uniformity with, in virtue of, near, nearby, next to, nigh, on, over, passing by, passing through, per, proper to, round, round about, so long, suitable for, thanks to, thereby, therewith, through, to, toward, uniform with, upon, via, whereby, wherewith, wherewithal, with