catflap.org Online Dictionary Query


Query string:
Search type:
Database:

Database copyright information
Server information


9 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 :   [ gcide ]

  By \By\ (b[imac]), prep. [OE. bi, AS. b[=i], big, near to, by,
     of, from, after, according to; akin to OS. & OFries. bi, be,
     D. bij, OHG. b[=i], G. bei, Goth. bi, and perh. Gr. 'amfi`.
     E. prefix be- is orig. the same word. [root]203. See pref.
     Be-.]
     1. In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from;
        close to; along with; as, come and sit by me.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              By foundation or by shady rivulet
              He sought them both.                  --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. On; along; in traversing. Compare 5.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Long labors both by sea and land he bore. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              By land, by water, they renew the charge. --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Near to, while passing; hence, from one to the other side
        of; past; as, to go by a church.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Used in specifying adjacent dimensions; as, a cabin twenty
        feet by forty.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. Against. [Obs.] --Tyndale [1. Cor. iv. 4].
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: To the meaning of by, as denoting means or agency,
           belong, more or less closely, most of the following
           uses of the word:
        (a) It points out the author and producer; as,
            ``Waverley'', a novel by Sir W.Scott; a statue by
            Canova; a sonata by Beethoven.
        (b) In an oath or adjuration, it indicates the being or
            thing appealed to as sanction; as, I affirm to you by
            all that is sacred; he swears by his faith as a
            Christian; no, by Heaven.
        (c) According to; by direction, authority, or example of;
            after; -- in such phrases as, it appears by his
            account; ten o'clock by my watch; to live by rule; a
            model to build by.
        (d) At the rate of; according to the ratio or proportion
            of; in the measure or quantity of; as, to sell cloth
            by the yard, milk by the quart, eggs by the dozen,
            meat by the pound; to board by the year.
        (e) In comparison, it denotes the measure of excess or
            deficiency; when anything is increased or diminished,
            it indicates the measure of increase or diminution;
            as, larger by a half; older by five years; to lessen
            by a third.
        (f) It expresses continuance or duration; during the
            course of; within the period of; as, by day, by night.
        (g) As soon as; not later than; near or at; -- used in
            expressions of time; as, by this time the sun had
            risen; he will be here by two o'clock.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: In boxing the compass, by indicates a pint nearer to,
           or towards, the next cardinal point; as, north by east,
           i.e., a point towards the east from the north;
           northeast by east, i.e., on point nearer the east than
           northeast is.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: With is used instead of by before the instrument with
           which anything is done; as, to beat one with a stick;
           the board was fastened by the carpenter with nails. But
           there are many words which may be regarded as means or
           processes, or, figuratively, as instruments; and
           whether with or by shall be used with them is a matter
           of arbitrary, and often, of unsettled usage; as, to a
           reduce a town by famine; to consume stubble with fire;
           he gained his purpose by flattery; he entertained them
           with a story; he distressed us with or by a recital of
           his sufferings. see With.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     By all means, most assuredly; without fail; certainly.
  
     By and by.
        (a) Close together (of place). [Obs.] ``Two yonge knightes
            liggyng [lying] by and by.'' --Chaucer.
        (b) Immediately; at once. [Obs.] ``When . . . persecution
            ariseth because of the word, by and by he is
            offended.'' --Matt. xiii. 21.
        (c) Presently; pretty soon; before long.
  
     Note: In this phrase, by seems to be used in the sense of
           nearness in time, and to be repeated for the sake of
           emphasis, and thus to be equivalent to ``soon, and
           soon,'' that is instantly; hence, -- less emphatically,
           -- pretty soon, presently.
  
     By one's self, with only one's self near; alone; solitary.
  
     By the bye. See under Bye.
  
     By the head (Naut.), 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, One by one, Piece by piece, etc., 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The common phrase good-by is equivalent to farewell,
           and would be better written good-bye, as it is a
           corruption of God be with you (b'w'ye).
           [1913 Webster]

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :   [ web1913 ]

  By \By\ (b[imac]), prep. [OE. bi, AS. b[=i], big, near to, by,
     of, from, after, according to; akin to OS. & OFries. bi, be,
     D. bij, OHG. b[=i], G. bei, Goth. bi, and perh. Gr. 'amfi`.
     E. prefix be- is orig. the same word. [root]203. See pref.
     Be-.]
     1. In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from;
        close to; along with; as, come and sit by me. [1913
        Webster]
  
              By foundation or by shady rivulet He sought them
              both.                                 --Milton.
  
     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. Near to, while passing; hence, from one to the other side
        of; past; as, to go by a church.
  
     4. Used in specifying adjacent dimensions; as, a cabin twenty
        feet by forty.
  
     5. Against. [Obs.] --Tyndale [1. Cor. iv. 4].
  
     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.
  
     Note: To the meaning of by, as denoting means or agency,
           belong, more or less closely, most of the following
           uses of the word:
        (a) It points out the author and producer; as,
            ``Waverley'', a novel by Sir W.Scott; a statue by
            Canova; a sonata by Beethoven.
        (b) In an oath or adjuration, it indicates the being or
            thing appealed to as sanction; as, I affirm to you by
            all that is sacred; he swears by his faith as a
            Christian; no, by Heaven.
        (c) According to; by direction, authority, or example of;
            after; -- in such phrases as, it appears by his
            account; ten o'clock by my watch; to live by rule; a
            model to build by.
        (d) At the rate of; according to the ratio or proportion
            of; in the measure or quantity of; as, to sell cloth
            by the yard, milk by the quart, eggs by the dozen,
            meat by the pound; to board by the year.
        (e) In comparison, it denotes the measure of excess or
            deficiency; when anything is increased or diminished,
            it indicates the measure of increase or diminution;
            as, larger by a half; older by five years; to lessen
            by a third.
        (f) It expresses continuance or duration; during the
            course of; within the period of; as, by day, by night.
        (g) As soon as; not later than; near or at; -- used in
            expressions of time; as, by this time the sun had
            risen; he will be here by two o'clock.
  
     Note: In boxing the compass, by indicates a pint nearer to,
           or towards, the next cardinal point; as, north by east,
           i.e., a point towards the east from the north;
           northeast by east, i.e., on point nearer the east than
           northeast is.
  
     Note: With is used instead of by before the instrument with
           which anything is done; as, to beat one with a stick;
           the board was fastened by the carpenter with nails. But
           there are many words which may be regarded as means or
           processes, or, figuratively, as instruments; and
           whether with or by shall be used with them is a matter
           of arbitrary, and often, of unsettled usage; as, to a
           reduce a town by famine; to consume stubble with fire;
           he gained his purpose by flattery; he entertained them
           with a story; he distressed us with or by a recital of
           his sufferings. see With.
  
     By all means, most assuredly; without fail; certainly.
  
     By and by.
        (a) Close together (of place). [Obs.] ``Two yonge knightes
            liggyng [lying] by and by.'' --Chaucer.
        (b) Immediately; at once. [Obs.] ``When . . . persecution
            ariseth because of the word, by and by he is
            offended.'' --Matt. xiii. 21.
        (c) Presently; pretty soon; before long.
  
     Note: In this phrase, by seems to be used in the sense of
           nearness in time, and to be repeated for the sake of
           emphasis, and thus to be equivalent to ``soon, and
           soon,'' that is instantly; hence, -- less emphatically,
           -- pretty soon, presently.
  
     By one's self, with only one's self near; alone; solitary.
  
     By the bye. See under Bye.
  
     By the head (Naut.), 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, One by one, Piece by piece, etc., 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.
  
     Note: The common phrase good-by is equivalent to farewell,
           and would be better written good-bye, as it is a
           corruption of God be with you (b'w'ye).

From English Wiktionary: All languages (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-ALL-2023-07-27 ]

  piece by piece
     phr.
     By complete each component gradually and in stages.

From English Wiktionary: English language only (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-en-2023-07-27 ]

  piece by piece
     phr.
     By complete each component gradually and in stages.

From English Wiktionary: Western, Greek, and Slavonic languages only (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-Western_Greek_Slavonic-2023-07-27 ]

  piece by piece
     phr.
     By complete each component gradually and in stages.

From English Wiktionary: Western languages only (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-Western-2023-07-27 ]

  piece by piece
     phr.
     By complete each component gradually and in stages.

From English - German Ding/FreeDict dictionary ver. 1.9-fd1 :   [ freedict:eng-deu ]

  piece by piece /pˈiːs baɪ pˈiːs/
  stückweise, stückchenweise , Stück für Stück
     Synonyms: by the piece, piecemeal, by the job
  

From English-Hungarian FreeDict Dictionary ver. 0.2.1 :   [ freedict:eng-hun ]

  piece by piece /pˈiːs baɪ pˈiːs/
  1. darabszám
  2. darabonként

From XDICT the English-Chinese dictionary :   [ xdict ]

     ad. 逐渐地

Questions or comments about this site? Contact dictionary@catflap.org
Access Stats